


Until the End of Time

by Vickironica



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bottom Tom Riddle, Child Harry Potter, Danny is cute twin brother, Death might appear later, Dom Harry Potter, Dragons, F/M, Gay, Harry Potter is Not a Horcrux, Harry Potter is Not the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry doesn't care, Harry is so OP, Harry loves his brother, Horcruxes, I HATE DUMBELDORE, Like he's more powerful than literally anything else, Like nobody's even close to him, M/M, Magic, Magically Powerful Harry Potter, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Master of Death Harry Potter, Memes, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Potter Puppet Pals, Powerful Harry, Reincarnation, Remus is a cinnamon roll, Sirius Black Never Went to Azkaban, Slow Burn, Slytherin Harry Potter, Snakes, Sorry Not Sorry, Sub Tom Riddle, The Deathly Hallows, The Potters Live, Time Travel, Timeline What Timeline, Top Harry Potter, Vines, Voldemorts so hyped for training, Wrong Boy-Who-Lived (Harry Potter), animagus forms, but hes not 'evil' in the fic, it might get sexual later on but idk, no idea whats gonna happen i'll add tags later, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-06-24 06:37:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15624879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vickironica/pseuds/Vickironica
Summary: Harry Potter is the Master of Death, and thus, immortal. Every couple thousand years, he'll let himself reincarnate into a new dimension. This dimension is quite similar to his first one, except he has a twin brother, and the Voldemort in this world is willing to give up everything he's worked for, as long as Harry teaches him magic.And Harry? Harry just likes annoying Voldemort with memes, vines, and Potter Puppet Pals.





	1. Things Have Gone Wonderfully Right (Or Horribly Wrong) -Voldemort

**Author's Note:**

> Hey look guys I'm not dead. I'm not gonna update my other fanfic probably, but I have this new one for u. It's based off another fanfic I read recently, in case you can't tell, but let me tell you, it's going in another direction. Harry is so powerful and old and he loves his brother so much and we haven't gotten into that yet...
> 
> Also guys I'm in a contest and need to get to 5000 hits STAT. Actually, not a big deal, but I'll tell you if I won when it's over.
> 
> I can't wait till we get to the Diary Horcrux, because I have so much planned for Tom, and I actually feel sorry for him. Because of what I'm gonna do to him.

_July 31, 1980_

“Look, James! Twins!”

“I see them, Lily. They’re- They’re.. _beautiful._ I love them.”

“Me too, James. What should we name them?”

“How about Daniel, for this one?”

“That sounds _perfect._ And you..”

He felt himself being cradled close by his mother, even if he was unable to open his eyes thanks to the sudden change in light, and his newly-born body.

_“..You will be my little Harry.”_

…..

_Hallowe’en, 1981_

Lily knew Harry wasn’t a normal child. In fact, he was already talking in coherent words at only over a year old, and had been for a while. The baby had also begun walking much sooner than most children would, including his twin brother, Daniel.

She knew the vibrant green of Harry’s eyes shouldn’t look as all-knowing, or as old as they do. They shouldn’t look so distant and cold when Harry zones out, but they do.

She knew Harry shouldn’t be able to do any form of magic, but that didn’t stop him from summoning things across the room into his hand at a moment’s notice, like he’d been doing it for years.

To be completely honest, Harry _scared_ her sometimes. Lily was aware he wasn’t _just_ a baby, but they had gone into hiding and there was no way to figure out what exactly was wrong. She knew he wasn’t a baby, and sometimes, with his dark green eyes that matched her own, but were still _so_ different, she wondered if Harry was even human.

But, just like Lily had her worries about her son, she was still his mother. And for all the worrying she did, her love for the boy was unconditional. Harry got along with Daniel, who tried to follow Harry and be the second prodigy in the household.

For the most part, Danny, with his fiery red hair and soft brown eyes, was a very quick learner. If Harry learned how to do something, Danny would know the next day.

_However_ , none of this explained why her little Harry was standing in front of his brother’s crib, looking rightly determined to protect Danny from the threat in front of them. Harry was supposed to be sleeping soundly in his own crib, like his twin, instead of facing off against the darkest wizard of their time.

_Voldemort._

Lily was petrified on the ground, unable to move, nor say a word. She had been forgotten as soon as she’d been beaten, luckily not tortured. But, she had a front row seat to the deaths of both her children, and was that not, in it’s own way, torture? (Lily would take a thousand Crucios if it meant her kids would live.)

But despite her pleas to the heavens, Harry did not back down from the dark wizard, not that it would help. However, it might save him from being tortured before death.

So, the last thing she expected was for Harry to start speaking to the Dark Lord.

“Tom Marvolo Riddle!” Harry yelled in a deep tone, not one she’d ever heard him use before. His voice _demanded_ attention and respect, radiating more power than she’d ever seen before.

The Dark Lord, to Lily’s utmost surprise, _flinched_ at the name, pointing his wand at little Harry like the one year old child was a threat.

“How do you know that name, brat?!” The insane wizard didn’t even wait for an answer, just shooting curses at the baby in rapid succession.

Her child merely waved his hand, blocking all of the curses with the simple motion. She didn’t even care _how_ he did it, _how_ he blocked all the curses, she was just _so_ grateful, and she wanted to run over to him—both of her children—and hold them, and never let them go.

Lily didn’t care about the stupid prophecy, destined to affect one of her children. She just wanted both of her children to be safe and happy. Was that _really_ too much to ask?

Harry—her small son, only a _babe—_ only glared at the Dark Lord, as if he was nothing more than a nuisance. And Lily couldn’t find it in her to be surprised anymore, more focused on how utterly _grateful_ she was that Harry was _alive_ , even when Harry started hissing. He gave the foul wizard the same look he gives James, when the boy’s father is being incredibly stupid.

She watched the Dark Lord hiss back, as if it physically pained him that he wasn’t sending a curse instead. But—it’s not possible—, were they speaking Parseltongue? But how would Harry, _her little Harry,_ know Parseltongue?!

Lily remembers right then and there that Harry had never been a normal baby.

She vows at that moment to never forget it again.

…..

_“_ _~I will not allow you to harm my brother.~”_ Harry stated clearly, glaring threateningly at the Dark Lord he was so familiar with.

Voldemort hissed back. _“~How is it you speak_ _in Serpent Tongue?!~”_

Harry took a small step forward, as much as he could in his small body. _“~The prophecy will not come true if you don’t do anything, Riddle. It is self-fulfilled.~”_

_“~What do you know of the prophecy?!~”_

Harry wanted to sigh. For such a smart wizard, Tom could be incredibly stupid sometimes. _“~It is not your concern, as I will kill you and all of your horcruxes if you touch my brother.~”_

Voldemort hissed again, no words, just blatant hissing. Most likely, a jumble of incoherent swear words and spells. Finally, after almost a minute of slipping over his own (forked?) tongue, Voldemort regains his bearings, but not by much. _“~How- How?! How do you know about any of this?!~”_

And now Harry wanted to just go back to sleep, because this was tiring and completely unproductive for both of them. He yawned, vaguely answering with a dull tone. _“_ _~If I tell you I’m a god, will you leave?~”_

Voldemort seemed to regard his answer for a few moments, leaving Harry to glare at him flatly while dealing with his indecisiveness. Eventually, not soon enough (in Harry’s important opinion), the Dark Lord took a threatening step forward. _“~Come with me.~”_

Harry stared at him incredulously. He couldn’t even be bothered to answer in Parseltongue. “Uh, _no?_ Absolutely not. Why would I do something so _stupid?”_

Voldemort’s anger spiked. Luckily (for him), the Dark Lord wasn’t as stupid as he could’ve been, which would have been attacking. Instead, he tried to salvage the situation. _“~I will leave your family alone if you come with me.~”_

Harry, barely over a year old, raised a single eyebrow, pulling off the perfect doubtful face. “You know what? Fine. I’ll come with you for however long you want, and you’ll leave my family alone.” He narrowed his eyes. “But touch my family and _you will pay.”_

Voldemort didn’t respond, only smirked in his triumph. Harry doubted he would heed to warning.

The Dark Lord proceeded to hold his hand out for Harry to grab, most likely to apparate to his home or base or wherever. The small child gave the hand an appalled glare, trotting right past and ignoring the wizard.

Harry crouched in front of his mother, sending her a reassuring smile. “I am leaving for a while, Mother. I know it pains you, but please do not search for me, lest Riddle do something drastic.”

Voldemort impatiently cleared his throat, with which Harry responded by casting a non-verbal Silencing Charm on him.

“Danny is the chosen one of the prophecy, but please keep Albus away from him. The old coot has plans for my brother- plans to manipulate him into the perfect pawn. He expects Danny to have a certain attribute—a mark, if you will—that I have prevented. He will use my disappearance against you to further my brother, using the excuse of ‘For the Greater Good’. If Daniel goes down this path, he will die.”

Harry paused, making sure his serious tone was understood. His mother’s eyes were full of fear, but determination as well.

“As a precaution, I have made sure you cannot leak this information. If Dumbledore finds out you know, he will kill you. He will set it up so you are a casualty of the war, furthering Daniel to act out the prophecy. Try to avoid eye contact, as he is a Legilimens, and has no problem probing through your mind.”

Harry glanced back to find Voldemort trying to counter the silencing spell, failing, and was a mix of both annoyed and intrigued.

“I do not know when I will be back, but I will be going to Hogwarts with my brother, no matter Riddle’s wishes. I am aware you know I’m not a normal child, if this conversation is anything to go by. But, even knowing something was off, you still love me unconditionally, and for that, I thank you. When I return, I will tell you what I am, but for now, I ask that you trust that I will be alright. Please reassure Dad that I am fine, along with Siri and Remmy. Moony misses you guys a lot, but feels he should have expected his friends to leave him. After all, who could trust a werewolf?”

Harry cocked his head to the side.

“Pettigrew was the real traitor. Though, you should know that, seeing as he was the Secret Keeper. That reminds me, no matter what, do _not_ let Sirius leave the house tonight. Once he learns of Pettigrew’s betrayal, he will leave the house for revenge. Peter will escape, and Sirius will be blamed for killing multiple muggles and put in Azkaban without a trial, courtesy of Dumbledore.”

The child leans down, planting a kiss on his mother’s forehead. “I love you, along with Dad and Danny and Sirius and Remmy, too. Please heed my warnings and be safe.”

Harry leans back, walking over to where Voldemort was impatiently waiting, a scowl on his face and arms crossed. (Riddle gave up rather quickly on the curse, Harry mused.) He gives his mother one last glance. “And one last thing, Snape is a terrible person, but make Dad get rid of the life debt.”

…..

Harry takes Voldemort’s hand, and as they apparate away (breaking the wards), Lily finds herself able to move again. The first thing she does, after making sure her little Daniel is alright, is break down on the floor and cry. She doesn’t know if it’s because of happiness that her children survived, or if it’s from the sadness of losing one of her sons.

By the end of the night, after dealing with everything else, Lily thinks it was from both.

…..

“Tell me all you know.” Voldemort demanded as soon as they touched ground… wherever they were. Probably Riddle Manor, from the looks of it.

They’re in a fairly large room, with dark green and cream colored walls, and a couple pictures of random items or places. There’s a table surrounded by two couches and a single recliner chair, with both books and papers stacked on it. Around them, there are several bookshelves, but from Harry’s quick glance, it’s nothing he hasn’t read before.

Instead of catering to the Dark Lord’s every demand like everybody else, Harry, in all his year-old glory, crosses his arms. “No.”

“You dare defy me, child?!” Voldemort all but screeched, reminding the boy faintly of someone he used to know, who may or may not go by the name of Bellatrix Lestrange.

“Uh, yeah, I do.” Harry answers simply, raising an eyebrow at the elder wizard. “There’s no possible way for you to learn anything from me, no matter how you try, unless I willingly give you the information.”

Voldemort’s eyes flared with a controlled anger. “Obviously, I mistook you for someone smarter, despite your puny body. You will be begging to tell me _everything_ you know within two minutes under the torture I will inflict upon you!”

Harry sighed, clearly not impressed. “Well? Do your worst.”

Voldemort paused, caught off guard by the boy’s nonchalant attitude.

“Get on with it, already. Or are you just going to stand there all day?” The child faked a yawn, slightly wondering if a vein was going to pop in Voldemort’s head, like it does in anime.

Sadly for Harry’s curiosity, it didn’t. Instead, the Dark Lord pointed his wand and yelled “Crucio!”

The spell fizzled out before it touched Harry.

“Wha- But how?! Tell me!” Voldemort commanded the young child.

“Right, listen.” Harry started, giving the elder wizard a bored look. “I’m only telling you this so you don’t drive me insane pestering me about it. Not that it’ll do any good… Anyways, here’s the deal. Are you listening?”

“You are not in a position to make demands of me, child.” Voldemort sneered.

Harry only smirked, pulling it off quite well for only being fifteen months old. “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong~! The short version is: I’m Master of Death and have conquered, or ‘killed’, you in a previous lifetime, rendering you unable to harm me, no matter how you may try. Though I am quite curious to see _what,_ exactly, you’ll try..”

…..

“Albus, what do we do?!” James asked, desperate to get his son back.

It had been over two years (two years and two months, to be precise) since little Harry had disappeared, and Albus was running out of ideas to try. He had never expected Tom to kidnap one of the children.. Perhaps Tom was raising Harry as a minion, thinking that the Potters would never be able to hurt, or kill, their own child.

Albus was more surprised that Voldemort was able to raise a child in the first place. Most likely, he had some of his Death Eaters tasked with raising Harry. For Tom to raise a child, he would have to show restraint on his anger, lest he kill the child.

Most people had given up searching for the Potter twin, simply because it had been two years, and it was easy to assume to child was dead. Albus, however, knew differently. He had placed discreet spells on all three of the prophecy children, since he had no way of telling which the Dark Lord would choose until he did. In fact, he still did not know, but he would have to guess it was Harry, from the way things went.

James was unhelpful in the confirmation, since he was stunned downstairs during the attack. Lily, however, was an entirely different story.

She said she had a perfect view of the whole ordeal, having been stunned in the doorway. She told Albus that she heard Harry say the name “Tom Marvolo Riddle” and then start hissing a bunch, but no, that would be impossible… For a child to know Voldemort’s true name, and speak Parseltongue nonetheless.

Lily said they had spoken in that tongue for a while, and for some reason, without Voldemort cursing the child even once, until the very end with another stunner. He apparated with Harry in his arms, which was the last anybody had heard from Voldemort since then.

Once they had disappeared, Sirius came bounding in, ready for revenge on Pettigrew, but Lily stopped him from leaving the house that night.

All of that added up, somehow, but what was strange was how Lily did not seem to mind that her child was missing. She had not been frantically worrying about his well-being, like James, Sirius, and Remus. (Lily had been rather insistent they apologize and rekindle their friendship with the werewolf.) Rather, she took care of Daniel like nothing was wrong.

Another thing was how she refused to show her memories in a pensieve. Lily said Voldemort must’ve messed with her head, somehow, making her unable to show the conversation to anybody. Which turned out truer than Albus would have liked, once he learned that he could not watch the memory through discreet legilimency. It was as if it was blocked off from the outside world, put in its own occlumency shield. Albus had never heard of magic like that, but he supposed Tom was quite smart in some aspects. Sadly, not the right ones…

What Albus found the most strange, though, was how Lily seemed to be avoiding him. She almost always finds an excuse to dodge and evade him, no matter what the Headmaster insisted. If there was one things Gryffindors were known for, it was their stubborn personality.

However, even when avoiding him, she was very discreet about it. Albus wouldn’t have noticed if he weren’t watching for it. He was rarely let near Daniel without Lily around, who had matured very quickly for his age.

Daniel could do little bursts of accidental magic almost at will, like summoning a toy from across the room. When he asked James about it, he said that Danny had always tried to copy Harry, when he was here…

Albus asked about Harry. James and Sirius both told him that Harry was—had been—a prodigy. He had been walking and even _talking_ before that Halloween night, along with doing quite a bit of accidental magic. Albus asked carefully, as to not arouse suspicion, why he had never been told about Harry’s talents, or at least, not to that extent. James had replied with a shrug, “I guess we just forgot to mention it.”

Albus didn’t believe that for one minute; something deeper, _darker,_ was going on in that house, and he was going to find out what. It obviously had something to do with Harry, who was now in the Dark Lord’s clutches. What had Tom seen in the boy? Did he kidnap him just because Harry could apparently speak Parseltongue (which is enough reason itself), because of the boy’s magic powers, how Harry had yelled Voldemort’s real name (information not well-known), or was it because he was a Potter and intended to raise him as a Death Eater?

“We’ll think of something, my boy. Let us just hope Voldemort hasn’t done too much damage by the time we get him back..” Albus hoped that was true. Harry had an important role to live up to, and somebody’s youngest years are their most impressionable.

…..

_ Six Months into the Kidnapping _

“Oi, Voldy, come here!” Harry yelled from a different room, snickering under his breath.

“What do you want you infernal child?! Are you finally ready to tell m- AGH-” Voldemort walked through the doorway, right into Harry’s trap.

Harry had put saran wrap in the doorway, which Voldemort ran right into. The ‘most evil dark lord of their time’ fell on the floor, tangled in the product of his prank.

After a few months of trying out every possible torture method he could think of, Voldemort had given up trying to force it out of him, realizing it was pointless. Instead, he was trying to annoy it out of Harry, though the man denied it to the moon and back, saying it was ‘tactical persuasion’. Harry was sure he would’ve tried being nice, if he weren’t resident Dark Lord and didn’t have a single nice bone in his body… The fact that Harry kept doing small pranks probably didn’t help. But to be fair, Harry only did the pranks when Voldemort tried to annoy the answers out of him. Which was.. daily.

Right now, though, Harry was laughing on the floor, clutching his stomach from laughing so hard. Harry was sure he was gonna die from how hard he was laughing. Even while laughing, he still found enough breath to say “He needs some milk,” sending the child into another bout of laughing.

Finally, after a few moments of flailing under the saran wrap, Voldemort freed himself. “Potter! I told you to cease these stupid pranks!”

Harry stood up, putting his hands on his hips. “And I told _you_ not to annoy me about information.”

“Where did you even get this?! This is a muggle product!”

Harry shrugged, feigning innocence. “I dunno. A grocery store?”

“What is a grocery store? Wait- you never left the manor! My wards would’ve told me!”

“Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t. Your wards are useless against me.” Harry replied.

And, of course, upon gaining new information, Voldemort whips out his handy-dandy (muggle) notebook he carries around, to write any new information he learns about Harry in. Harry hears him mutter under his breath, “Wards.. are.. ineffective..”

He keeps the notebook open, glancing from the paper to Harry. “And what did you mean by ‘He needs some milk’? What would falling have to do with milk? Is there a falling spell that is countered by milk?”

Harry tries to hold back a laugh, but fails. “Right, I’m answering this _only_ because that was the funniest thing I’ve heard, and you’ll hate the answer. It’s a muggle vine.”

“What is a vine? You don’t mean the plants? What does that have to do with milk?”

Harry sighed. “Vines are basically video clips that have turned into memes by being popular.”

“Potter?”

Harry glanced up, just to see Voldemort scribbling down in the notebook again. “Yes?”

“What are.. _memes?”_

…..

_ One Year and Four Months into the Kidnapping _

“What book are you reading?” Voldemort sat in the chair across from Harry, opening his own book. They were in the library in the Riddle Manor, so Voldemort knew all of the books here.. except the one Harry had. He had learned, by now, that if he tries to sneak a peek at Harry’s books, even only the cover, Harry would vanish it to Merlin-knows-where. It was hard to remember the boy was only two and a half years old, even considering his size and looks.

“ _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone._ American Edition.” Harry replied, flipping a page nonchalantly.

Voldemort’s interest was piqued, but he kept his eyes on his own book. “What, really? What’s it about?”

“My first year at Hogwarts back in a different life.”

He risked a glance up. “Can I read it?”

“No.”

Voldemort looked back down at his own book, barely put off by the answer. He hadn’t expected anything different in the first place.

…..

_ One Year and Ten Months into the Kidnapping _

“Potter, what in the name of Merlin is _that._ ” Voldemort asked.. Or stated? It was in the form of a question, but it didn’t come out that way.

Harry ignored him. The boy was laying on the floor in his room on his stomach, kicking his legs back and looking at a glowing screen. He had something in his ears that was blocking sound, it looked like, that was plugged into the screen.

“ _Potter._ ”

_“_ _POTTER.”_

Harry finally noticed the impatient Dark Lord, glancing over, then taking out one of the things in his ears. “Hm?”

“What in the name of Merlin is _that?!”_ He asked again.

Harry glanced at his screen, tapping on it, then looking back over. “I’d show you, but you _really_ won’t like it. Or maybe you would. I dunno.”

“Is this like those _‘memes’_ you told me about?”

“This is worse.”

“I _doubt_ it can be worse than the time you snuck into my Death Eater meeting and starting ranting off a bunch of your ‘vines’.” Voldemort put a hand on his hip, disbelief lacing his words.

Harry grinned. “Ah, I remember that. That was fun. Two of your Death Eaters started fighting under their breath while you were busy with something, so I started saying ‘Can I get a waffle? Can I _please_ get a waffle?” I doubt half the people there know what a waffle is.”

“Yes, and nobody knew you were there, either. We all just heard a voice talking about waffles.”

“I think I gave at least two of them heart attacks; they were so on edge the rest of the meeting.”

Voldemort sighed. “And then you had the audacity to mutter things in my ear the rest of the time. One of them told me about the casualties of an attack, and you whispered ‘When will you learn, when will you learn that your actions have consequences!’ in an increasingly high pitched voice.”

“Hey, it made you laugh!”

“I know and I regret it.”

Harry snickered at his pain. “Anyways, this,” he gestured to his electric thing, “is definitely a lot worse.”

“Is it magic?” Voldemort questioned, looking suspicious, and rightfully so.

“Nope! It’s muggle technology. This is a tablet. Won’t be created for another two or three decades, if things stay the same. But that’s not the point.” Harry looked at Voldemort, a serious look in his eye. “Are you _sure_ you’ll be able to handle it? I know you are aware of what muggles are capable of, out of anybody.”

The Dark Lord looked wary, but determined. “Show me.”

Harry would let him off the hook this one time for ordering him around, because Voldemort was going to suffer enough anyways.

“Well, Voldy,” He received a smirk. “Get ready for Potter. Puppet. Pals.”


	2. It Was At This Moment, Voldemort Knew, He Screwed Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voldemort realizes that he has messed up BIG TIME.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY Y'ALL. I'M BACK. Well, for this chapter at least. I have no clue when the next chapter is gonna get out.
> 
> Buuuuuuut, I promised somebody that I'd have this up before Christmas, and so here it is. (I am so sorry this is so late oh my goddd)
> 
> Also heyyyy, over 4000 reads, wowie!! My most popular story ;-; You people are fools, reading this garbage. There is nothing good here. Unless you're here to see Voldemort suffer, because that's my top one (1) favorite thing to write. Tom suffering. And it's in this chapter. 
> 
> Okay I'll let you read now. .-.

“I’m going to have that blasted song stuck in my head for the rest of the month. I’m never going to be able to look at him, or even hear his _name_ , without the stupid song getting stuck in my head.” Voldemort pinched his nose.

Harry, on the other hand, was being a little devil. “… Snape, Snape, Severus Snape.”

“I would hex you if I could.” Voldemort responded, not even turning around.

If Harry was a little taller, and not a dinky three year old, he would’ve patted Voldy’s shoulder sympathetically. “We can take the rest of them slowly.”

_“There’s more?!”_

“Oi, don’t insult Snape’s Diary. That video was a blessing.”

Slowly, Voldemort turned around. “There’s a video about Snape’s Diary?”

Harry nodded.

“We’re watching it. Now.”

Harry grinned.

…..

_ Two Years and Two Months into the Kidnapping _

“My Lord! I have important news!” A Death Eater bowed before his lord, panting heavily from running.

Voldemort seemed disinterested. “Well, what is it? Spit it out.”

“We’ve- We’ve captured Sirius Black! He’s James Potter’s best friend! We found him trying to sneak into the Manor, but he triggered the wards.”

The Dark Lord glanced over, raising a non-existent eyebrow. He faintly wondered if Harry was close to this person. The Potter brat only said not to attack his family, and as far as he knew, Sirius Black was not related to the Potters. So it should be fine if Voldemort disposed of this person, correct? After all, he was the one who tried to break in.

Voldemort ignored the warning bells of common sense, telling him that this was a bad idea.

…..

Harry felt the moment Sirius stepped onto the grounds. He also felt the moment Sirius was captured by Death Eaters.

He also also felt the moment Voldemort walked towards the cell his godfather was being held in.

With no more than half a thought about it, Harry silently apparated to the dungeon, masking himself under an invisibility spell. He would watch from the background to see if Voldemort would uphold his promise.

There were no Death Eaters in sight, in the darkness of the underground. They were probably told to leave the prisoner alone once he was taken care of.

Only a minute later, Voldemort strode in, in all his snake-face glory. “Well, well. It seems my Death Eaters have caught a blood traitor. How foolish must you be to trespass on my manor.”

“Give Harry back, you cold-blooded murderer!” Sirius replied. His arms were bound behind his back in metal chains, forcing him on his knees.

_‘Glad to see Sirius still has spunk, even after he’s captured and in the presence of the Dark Lord,’_ Harry mused.

The Dark Lord fingered his wand, bringing Sirius’ attention to the stick. “I could kill you, but I won’t.”

Harry glanced at Voldy incredulously, squinting. Really? He was keeping his promise?

Voldemort continued. “Not yet, at least.”

_Dangit Tom._

“The Potter brat is safe. You’ll find he has been.. _enjoying_ his time here.” To everyone else, Voldemort’s emphasis would mean that Harry really isn’t. To Harry and Voldemort, it means that his enjoyment comes from Voldy’s pain.

“What have you done to Harry! Give my Godson back, you freak!”

Harry flinched. He did not like that word.

Harry also saw the buried emotions in Voldemort—Tom—come out for a split second. If he had blinked, he would’ve missed it.

In another split second, Voldemort’s wand was pointed at Sirius. “Crucio.”

Harry barely apparated in time to block the spell out. The red light fizzled out upon contact with his clothes, even while still invisible.

“Wha-” Sirius stared blankly, and Voldemort wasn’t doing much better.

Harry removed the invisibility spell off of himself, letting his glare be seen clearly by Voldemort. “Tom, did you forget our deal?”

“You are not related to Black!” he retorted, and Harry could see he hesitated for a moment afterwards, questioning it. Already too late.

“I have told you that Sirius is my Godfather, have I not?” If it were a different situation, Harry would find it amusing that Voldemort was being stood up to by a three year-old.

Voldemort opened his mouth to say something, but froze, then closed it. There was no excuse; Harry had told him that Black was his Godfather, but it had escaped his mind. Sirius Black was Harry’s family, and he had broken the one rule Harry made.

Harry continued. “I will be leaving, and taking Sirius with me.” He paused, and something flashed in his eyes. “I know you’re probably glad to get rid of me, anyways. I was nothing but a bother to you.” He sent a lop-sided grin to the Dark Lord that looked a bit too real yet still so _fake_ , then apparated away, taking Sirius with him. The chains fell to the floor with a clang.

The Dark Lord was left alone in the darkness of his dungeon. The faint glow of the candle was the only thing keeping the room from being pitch black, and it was just enough for him to see the remnants of where Harry had been just moments before.

Voldemort wanted to tell Harry—what did he want to tell the Potter brat? Now that the little menace was gone, it was true he wouldn’t get pranked with muggle products, and that he wouldn’t have to conform to the little devil’s wishes, but…

Instead, the Dark Lord found himself frowning. He did not like that Harry was gone. His chest hurt, and his eyes were glued to the spot Harry was just standing on.

...He felt… lonely.

Empty.

…..

Harry and Sirius fell to the ground with a ‘plop’. Well, actually, Sirius did. Harry landed perfectly fine, softly touching the snow on the ground.

As soon as he gained his bearings, Sirius scrambled up into a sitting position. He had snow in his hair and on his clothes, but didn’t even bother to brush it off. Sirius looked around their surroundings and was met with a familiar site. “Wha- But, how?!” His head swung towards Harry, who, despite everything he could do, still looked three. “Are you.. Are you really Harry?”

“It’s me, Uncle Siri.” Harry grinned. “I’m home.”

In front of them was Godric’s Hallow, the house of the Potters, with a blanket of snow covering the house.

Harry was quite amused at the fact they didn’t change houses, only reset the Fidelius Charm. Peter and Voldemort wouldn’t know where it was anymore, despite having been there before. The toddler had to admit, it was a pretty smart move. Harry totally would spite someone by doing the exact same thing.

Sirius’ face broke out in such a huge smile that Harry almost felt bad for leaving in the first place. His godfather didn’t question anything Harry said or had done, but instead grabbed his hand and excitedly dragged him up the front porch. “Come on, kiddo!”

Harry let himself be dragged with a matching grin on his face.

Sirius stopped at the front door, bouncing up and down from excitement. He knocked on the door and impatiently waited in place.

Harry wondered if Sirius represented the dog animagus or the dog animagus represented Sirius. The latter, most likely.

After almost a full minute of his godfather bouncing up and down, the front door finally opened. Sirius was met face first with a wand.

The wand lowered upon realizing who it was. “Come on, mate. You know I have something against opening doors on holidays.” James Potter scratched his head, making his unruly hair even worse. Or the same, depending on how you looked at it.

But James was right. It was a holiday. Christmas Eve, to be exact. Harry was going to get to spend Christmas with his family, and his twin brother.

**((A.N. I don’t know the specifics of Yule, or whatever magical holiday it would be, so I’m gonna write it as Christmas.))**

In the back of his mind, Harry realized that if he hadn’t saved Sirius from Voldemort’s clutches, James would’ve lost two important people to him on a holiday.

“Sorry I’m a bit late, but I got you the best Christmas present _EVER!!”_ Sirius exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air wildly.

Harry swore James got that deadpan look on his face from when he was here as a baby. He wore it often enough, after all. “Oh?”

Sirius stepped aside, putting the spotlight on Harry.

James’ breath hitched. His eyes widened. “Is.. Is—Is that..” He paused, choking on a sob. “.. Harry?”

Harry smiled. “It’s me, Dad.”

“James!” Lily’s voice yelled from the room over. “What’s taking you so long?!”

“Lily, it’s.. _HARRY!_ HARRY’S BACK!” James yelled, crashing into his son with a giant hug. If Harry weren’t literally invincible. he felt he would’ve been crushed.

“What? Harry?” Remus’ voice sounded from another room.

Both of the other adults quickly scrambled to the front door to take a look at the Potter’s long lost son. They froze upon seeing him, letting Harry take the initiative.

“Hi, Mom, Remmy. I’m back.” Harry waved.

“HARRY!!!” They all yelled at the same time.

He was ushered into the house. The door was only closed because Harry shut it with his magic; it had been long forgotten otherwise. He was picked up (he was in a three year-old’s body) and passed around to each of the adults, who all wanted to cuddle and hug and make sure he was actually _there._ He was actually _there_ and _real_ and _not leaving._

All of the adults finally entered the living room with a giant decorated pine-tree full of little hand-made ornaments, most of which were probably by another three year-old.

Danny.

His twin brother was sitting on a couch, half sunk-in, pretending a candy-cane was a wand and swooshing it around. Sparks were coming out of the end in an array of colors, but it was magic nonetheless.

The fiery red-haired boy caught sight of his brother, and big hazel eyes widened even more. “Harry!”

The toddler practically lunged off the couch and jumped into Harry’s arms, which weren’t that much bigger than his. Actually, they were the exact same size. Their only difference was that Danny had Lily’s hair and James’ eyes, while Harry had James’ hair and Lily’s eyes.

“Danny!” Harry happily hugged his brother. In all his past lives, he’d never really had a sibling he was close to. Nor did he have a twin, and Harry was determined to make the most of it this time.

In the background, Harry heard the adults muttering among themselves.

“Lily, we need to go pick up Christmas presents for Harry!!”

“Ooh, James, you’re right!!”

“I’m.. going to stay here. You two have fun.” Remus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I’ll watch the kids. You two have fun. Don’t get kidnapped by any Dark Lords.”

“Lilyyyyyyyyyy.” James’ whined.

“Come on James!!” Sirius pushed him out of the door, eager to buy a couple gifts before all of the shops closed.

The door slammed shut, and Harry and Danny still hadn’t let go of each other.

“I missed you.” Both twins spoke at the same time, then glanced at each other in surprise with wide eyes, until they both broke out in huge grins.

_Perhaps this,_ Harry mused, _is what having a sibling feels like._

Harry was led around the house by Danny, who was excited to show his brother all of his favorite spots and toys. Harry took it all in stride, showing his brother new things he would enjoy, and sometimes teaching Danny how to do a bit of magic. The adults trailed after the two for a little bit, until they realized they could enjoy some peace and quiet while the twins were occupied.

Two hours later, which was actually fairly quickly for James and Sirius when they went shopping, they returned with arms full of gifts. The bundle of presents were promptly placed under the already-full Christmas tree, filled with other gifts to everyone in the house. They came home to Lily and Remus drinking hot chocolate in the living room, quietly chatting among themselves. Harry and Danny were sitting on the floor playing with a couple magical toys and explaining the magical theory behind each of them.

James and Sirius stopped and stared at that for a second, but quickly moved on because they were hungry, and dinner had been delayed (for a really good reason, but still!), and they were really hungry.

“Lily! Is the food done?!”

“James, I am right here. You do not need to yell.” Lily sighed, getting up anyways. “And yes, the food is done.”

Remus knelt down in front of the twins. “Come on kiddos, time to eat.”

The kids made their way to the table and sat down, never letting go of each other’s hand. All of the adults were thankful that Harry and Danny were getting along so well, despite it being over two years since they’d last seen each other.

Their dinner was a full-on feast, complete with a roast with gravy, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and an assortment of other things. James refused to eat the roast like usual, but had no qualms with the vegetables, even though they had been cooked with the meat.

The twins were practically sharing a chair because they were scooted so close together, and halfway through the dinner, they had somehow decided it was easier just to share a single plate. The adults were all asking Harry questions of where he’d been and what’d he’d been doing for the past couple years (in toddler talk, nonetheless), and Harry could see the underlying fear in their eyes (except for Lily).

They were scared that Voldemort brain-washed him. Rightfully so, Harry mused; the Dark Lord would’ve most definitely tried that. (He did, at one point. It didn’t come close to working. Harry showed him muggle hypnosis the next day.)

“So Harry, how did you get away from the big, mean, Dark Lord?” James almost cooed, bordering baby-talk.

Sirius butted in, like he had just suddenly remembered their dastardly escape. “Harry apparated!”

“He what?!”

“Yeah! He-who-must-not-be-named was there after I had gotten captured by the Death Eaters-”

“You _what?!”_

“- and snake-face was rambling on about how he was gonna torture me, and of course, being the great me, I stood him up! That turned out to be a pretty bad idea, actually, ‘cause he tried to Crucio me a second later, but then the spell just _fizzled away!_ Like it had a wall or something, and just kinda dispersed. Another second later, Harry was there, standing in front of me, standing up to the Dark Lord too! Except, instead of shooting curses at the tyke, he just started talking to our little Harry, about me I think, but half of it was in hissing so I couldn’t understand. And then- Harry spoke back to him, saying that I was his godfather, and honestly, I was about to get really emotional there, even chained to the ground and in the presence of Mr. Evil-dude! And Harry turned around after saying his piece, and rendering the Dark Lord flabbergast, and he grabbed onto my clothes and next thing I know, I’m outside of the Potter house with little Prongs next to me! And I knocked on the door, and you were _so slow_ opening the door and then you finally opened up and I showed you little Harry next to me, and-”

“Yes, Padfoot, thank you, but we know this part. I was there, remember?”

Sirius finally stopped rambling, having enough decency to looked bashful. “Oh, right, sorry. I got carried away.” And he promptly shoved a large piece of steak in his mouth.

James turned back to his son. “So, uh, I think my question got answered..” He ruffled his hair. “Did Mr. Evil-Snake-face-dude ever tell you why he took you away?”

“He thought he could use me as a means to learn magic.” Harry replied in a monotone voice, squeezing his brother’s hand. At the moment, he hadn’t decided how much to tell James or Sirius. They were deep within Dumbledore’s clutches, and Harry didn’t want them to report everything to the old coot. He knew that Dumbledore would try to control his life even more than before if he knew that Harry was powerful, and it would be much worse if he realized Harry was the Master of Death.

Even if Harry could easily rid the world of Dumbledore, it would do more harm than good in the end. Many people believed him to be the physical embodiment of the light, and would take offense to somebody attacking him in any way, shape, or form.

Harry would much rather just lie low and let Danny live a relatively normal life, not stressing under the constant gaze of Dumbledore.

“What did you do at the mean Dark Lord’s place?” Remus tried.

Harry humored him. “I would mostly read or play pranks on Moldyshorts.”

James and Sirius shared a look, then promptly burst out laughing for a good five minutes. “You- You were playing pranks on the most evil wizard of our time!”

“That’s my Harry alright!!”

“He’s my son, Pads!”

“I’m officially adopting him!”

Remus sighed at his two best friends, but also gave Harry an intrigued look. “You know how to read? What kind of books did you read?”

Harry nodded. “Mostly whatever I found on the shelves. Sometimes a novel.”

“That’s wonderful, Harry!” Lily smiled, joining the conversation. However, there was a gleam in her eyes, telling Harry she wasn’t surprised that he’d been able to read at only age three. “Danny is pretty good at reading too, aren’t you?”

“Yeah! I can read all the kids books in our room, but bigger books are super hard for me still..” The fiery redhead shoveled mashed potatoes into his face, hazel eyes glinting with determination.

“I’ll help you with them.” Harry smiled.

“Hooray!!!” Danny hurriedly ate the rest of his dinner, after asking if Harry wanted any more of what was on their plate. He then dragged Harry upstairs to their room, and the two sat down and read one of the books Danny had been having trouble with. It was a decent sized book, too, meant for kids around eight years old.

Danny fell asleep a few pages in, with his whole body leaning against Harry’s. Even while asleep, Danny kept a tight hold on his brother’s hand.

Harry closed the book and set it aside, and went to brushing his hand through Danny’s hair until Lily came in a few minutes later. She gently laid Danny in his bed, then turned to Harry. Her eyes were filled with so many mixed emotions, it was hard to point out any individual one.

“Can we talk?”

…..

Voldemort walked numbly back into his quarters, still trying to wrap his mind around the sudden emptiness that filled him.

He didn’t think the Potter brat ever had this much affect on him before. All he did was play stupid muggle pranks and teach him about useless things like ‘vines’ and ‘memes’. No matter how funny Potter Puppet Pals was to watch, there was no magic to be learned in it.

But.. was learning magic still the entire point? He’d admit that was why he kidnapped the brat at first, with the toddler’s wonderful show of magic that knew no bounds. His magic was.. endless, easily the most beautiful thing Voldemort had ever seen.

And.. when he’d first felt the magic.. it had felt like something _more._ Harry’s magic had felt peaceful—it made _him_ feel at peace.. Something that hadn’t happened in many years. Every time Potter used his magic, it had felt like nothing else mattered, because it was so big and grand and excellent that there was no need for anything else, even if it was only vanishing a book or making an apple float.

Harry’s magic had felt like.. home. Like he was back in the Slytherin dorm, realizing that this was where he was truly meant to be.

Harry’s magic.. made him feel like.. he belonged.

He had wanted to be near that wonderful feeling as much as possible. And now.. it was gone. Not a single trace was leftover, no matter how much Voldemort’s magic subconsciously reached for it.

Perhaps.. after the first few months, it had stopped being about just learning magic. That would’ve been a nice bonus, yes, but.. just having Harry around was good enough, at one point.

Voldemort sighed.

His eyes wandered around his room, remembering some pranks that had been scattered around here and there, or the times when the Potter brat would lounge around the room like he owned it.

Voldemort’s gaze stopped on his desk, where there was a single foreign item resting upon it. He sat up from his bed, thoughts laced with confusion as to what it was.

Upon closer inspection, it was a simple, small gift, wrapped in the most hideous of bright colors. The brat should know better than to mix red and green together!

On the top, there was a small card. Not enough room for much writing or pictures, and was obviously homemade (with blue construction paper).

_To: Moldyshorts_

_We’ve been getting along fairly well recently, s_ _o I thought I’d be a benevolent ruler and grace you with a gift._

_From: Harry,_ _easily_ _the best and most important person in your life_

_(P.S. You’re life sucks, dude)_

It would’ve been funny, if his words weren’t true. If Voldemort had seen this earlier, he would’ve scolded the brat for ten minutes about how he was in charge, and how the infernal brat meant nothing to him. Now.. the Dark Lord wondered if Harry knew the affect he had on him.

Despite his previous thoughts about terrible colors, Voldemort took the utmost care unwrapping the present.

Inside was a thin book, too small in size to have any meaningful magic written down. However, the title was unmistakably familiar.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” Voldemort read in merely a whisper, almost unbelieving.

The Dark Lord stood there, frozen, for almost ten minutes, staring at the simple book in his hand. There was a faint trace of Harry’s magic still on the book, but it was quickly dispersing into nothingness. Only enough to make Voldemort remember exactly what was lost.

Merlin, the Potter brat ruins everything even when he’s not here.

He shakily—barely—made his way back onto his bed, too overcome with emotions, and yet, much too empty.

...On this night, Voldemort regained a piece of his human self. Just enough that the fearsome Dark Lord, feared by so many, could be undone by just a single kid.

Voldemort cried for the first time in many many years, until he finally fell asleep from exhaustion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOW'D YOU LIKE IT?!
> 
> I hope I did an okay job with making Voldy S U F F E R. I know it may have been a stretch, really, but Voldy needs to feel REALLY bad that Harry left because of something that we'll probably see next chapter. As for when that'll be coming out, I have not a single clue. I do, however, have the title name already. Or maybe it's for chapter 4. Idk.
> 
> Also, I am in love with Danny and Harry's relationship. They're so cuteeeeee. If anybody ever draws fanart of my fanfic, I will most definitely cherish and love it forever. (And if it fits in the story, I'll figure out how to add it in!) Not to say you NEED to draw fanart, but it would most definitely be appreciated 100000000%.
> 
> Comments are also welcome. :D Sorry I'm rambling. I'll stop now. .-.


	3. Gods Go By Many Names (This One Goes By Harry)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily and Harry have a long talk, James and Sirius decide where their loyalties lie, Remus gains a new respect for a four year-old, Danny is Harry's hero, and our main pairing barely gets any recognition what the heck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOOOO I WROTE ANOTHER CHAPTER LOOK AT THIS. It's super long too!!! Like 5,200 words I think. I literally wrote over 4000 words just tonight. I was actually having a lot of fun writing, and I actually knew what to write for once, which was really weird??? I was literally stuck on one scene for like, half a month, and then all of a sudden I FINISH the chapter tonight??????
> 
> Anyways, here's a super long chapter for you my dudes, and I think(???) i know how the next chapter is gonna go?? (There are a lot of question marks here oh wow) (I have no clue what I'm doing with this story)
> 
> So uh, I'll just... let you read.......

“I’m surprised James and Sirius were able to let you out of their sight to go Christmas shopping,” Lily mused, sinking into the soft couch.

“They were too shocked for it to sink in fully that I’m back. Tomorrow is going to be much worse.” Harry explained, sipping his hot tea.

“Why’d you leave?”

Harry recognized her wavering confidence in the question, no matter how well she hid it. He smiled softly into his mug. “He promised to leave my family alone if I went with him. Voldy thought that I would teach him magic.”

“… Did you?”

Harry shook his head. “No. He had no way to get information out of me, though his methods were pretty interesting to watch.”

Lily’s breath hitched, and she glanced nervously at her son.

“Don’t worry,” Harry grinned. “Tom can’t hurt me. He just tried.. _annoying_ information out of me. Called it ‘tactical persuasion’. I had a lot of fun pranking him in return.”

Harry saw the way her shoulders deflated. Obviously, that was a load off her shoulders, knowing her son hadn’t been tortured continuously for two years.

“Voldemort,” Lily shuddered, but still said the name, “You call him ‘Tom’. You called him that the night you left, too.”

“Tom Marvolo Riddle. Voldemort’s name before he became, well, Voldemort.”

“Before he became.. Voldemort?”

Harry sighed, trying to find out how to best word it. “Riddle dabbled in some very _very_ bad magic when he was younger. He split his soul in half, and tethered it to a physical object. Once was already pretty bad, but he would’ve been fine, but Riddle made four more of them. Each time, splitting his soul further and further in half.”

 _“_ _Why?!”_

“He grew up in a muggle orphanage during the bombing of WWII. He’s scared— _terrified_ —of dying. Anybody would be, if they were in his place. He did the only thing he could to secure his immortality, making sure he wouldn’t die a pitiful death over the summer.”

“Surely the teachers would let him stay at Hogwarts over the summer?”

“Riddle tried; he really did. He was the top student Hogwarts has literally _ever had_. He was a model student; every single teacher and student _loved him._ Except for Dumbledore, who was convinced that this little teenager was evil for being able to speak to snakes and being sorted into Slytherin. And of course, everybody thinks Dumbledore is the next Merlin, so they listened to him, and Tom was sent back to the orphanage every summer to _die.”_

“You say muggle orphanage—Voldemort is a muggle-born?” Lily forgot to stutter while saying his name, too enraptured with Harry’s story to notice.

“He’s a half-blood, actually. Riddle is.. the heir of Slytherin." Harry shrugged, kicking his dangling feet back and forth.

“And you?” Lily almost whispered, gesturing to the small boy next to her. “What.. Who.. How..”

“The Master of Death. I collected all three of the Deathly Hallows in my first life, and so now I’m immortal. This life is.. really similar to my first one. I was Harry Potter, except.. there was no Danny, and Voldemort didn’t just stun you guys. I was the golden boy-who-lived, the only survivor of the killing curse.”

Lily’s eyes widened in understanding.

“I was given to the Dursleys growing up, with your sister.. You know, I actually asked to stay over the summer, too. Just as many times as Riddle did. Dumbledore told me ‘no’ over and over because it was ‘for the greater good’... There.. There was no greater good. He just wanted me to be submissive and easily manipulated.” Harry sighed, a soft little smile that was slightly too real to be anything but fake.

“What happened..?”

“It worked just as he wanted. I willingly walked to my death.” Harry looked his mother straight in the eyes. “And, guess what? I died.” He paused for a moment. “But, I came back to life, and.. and I killed somebody.”

“.. You killed Voldemort.”

Harry cocked his head to the side, finally looking away. “I was only 17 at the time. I had no problems with dying. I.. I wasn’t supposed to come back. I was supposed to stay dead. Dumbledore always believes he knows best, no matter what world I’m in. He always believes in the ‘greater good’, and he doesn’t care what, or who, he destroys to get there. I was nothing but a stepping stone for him to be revered as the next Merlin. He planned my entire life out, up until the moment I was supposed to die. And I followed it out perfectly, because I didn’t know any better.”

“What all happened? Would this Dumbledore do the same thing?”

“He would. He actually has a tracking charm on me, Danny, and Neville.”

Lily furrowed her brows in confusion, until it suddenly clicked. “The prophecy.”

“It’s how he knew I was still alive. I could easily take it off, but it’s better to leave him to do his thing. He’s already going to be suspicious enough of me, with how much ‘accidental’ magic I’ve been doing, and the small fact that I was kidnapped by the Dark Lord for two years. Listen..” Harry frowned for a moment, pausing in his thoughts. “Dumbledore knows what the Deathly Hallows are. He knows what the Master of Death is. He spent a good portion of his life looking for them with his boyfriend.”

Lily sputtered indignantly. “Boyfriend-”

“You may know him better as Gellert Grindelwald, actually. Anyways,” Harry continued, “Dumbledore has the Elder Wand, and he knows what it is. He knows Dad has the Invisibility Cloak, and.. well, he probably knows Voldemort has the Stone of Resurrection. Wouldn’t surprise me at all.” He shrugged.

“Voldemort has the stone?!”

“He doesn’t know he has it. He just thinks it’s an heirloom.”

“This-” Lily pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is a lot to take in.”

Harry kept a careful eye on his mother. “I’m sorry I’m not the child you wanted.” For a moment he paused; one could mistake it for hesitantly. “I could alter your memories—make you believe you had a regular kid.”

“Harry.. I’ve always known you weren’t a ‘regular kid’. It.. might sound selfish, but.. I’m glad you’re not. I’m so, _so glad._ You would be dead otherwise—both you and Danny, according to your story. I’d much rather you be some all-powerful god than a dead baby.” Lily explained, looking almost desperate for her son to understand.

“You realize that.. I’ll never be what you want. I may very well be a Slytherin this lifetime. I don’t get along with Dumbledore well—never have. I don’t plan to tell Dad or Sirius for some time, though I may tell Remus.. I’m still deciding. I’ve studied countless types of dark magic, and I plan to keep learning it for many many years. I’m literally _the_ Necromancer.” Harry breathed in, then out. “I’m not going to be the son you want. I’m not three, and I am extremely independent. However, I am willing to listen and treat you like a mother, because I cherish the times I can get a mother’s warmth.”

“.. How many other parents have you told? Or people in general?”

“I usually don’t. It’s easier for them to think their son or daughter is a normal child, than some elder-tier god they didn’t ask for. It.. gets tiring after a while, always having to pretend. I guess I was hoping that.. I’d be able to let my guard down a little this lifetime.” Harry did a small sparkly show with his magic, letting the falling glitter land on his mother and dissolve into nothing just to prove his point. “Most people can’t handle the strain of losing their chance at a normal life. I end up erasing their memories lots of times.”

Lily embraced her son with a hug. “I will always love and accept you, no matter what house you’re in, what magic you practice, or what you believe in. I’ll always be on your side and support you, and I’m sure Danny will too. He really likes you.”

“I love Danny too.” Harry’s smile softened as he thought about his fiery red-haired brother. “He’s a wonderful kid, though it seems he’s developed magic similar to mine.”

“I’ve noticed. You two were dissecting all the kids toys earlier,” Lily replied. “.. James and Sirius, and even Remus.. they might be harder to convince. They grew up with Dumbledore as their lord and savior basically, and it’s going to be hard to convince them that he’s not as great as he may seem.”

“I just want Danny to be safe and happy. Danny is my main concern, and always will be. I have no doubts he’ll be able to take care of himself, but I’ll always have his back.”

“What are you going to do about Voldemort? He.. Now that you’re not there, will he go after Danny again?” Lily asked, sending a quick reheating charm to her own tea.

Harry remembered his own tea and sipped on it as well. “He might. I have no clue what he’ll do, to be honest. I’ve never really gotten close to any of the Voldemorts before. They were insane, and I was still upset he’d murdered my parents in my first life. However, most lives, I never came across him. In some worlds, he just didn’t exist, or there were much bigger problems. Simple as that.”

“This is the first Voldemort you’ve ever gotten close to?” She sipped her tea.

Harry shrugged. “Well, yeah. Harry Potter has always had the biggest affect on Voldemort no matter the world, and this is only my second time being him. Usually, if he does exist, I have nothing to do with him whatsoever.” He paused for a moment, looking down solemnly into his mug. “There was one Voldemort I had gotten fairly close to.”

“.. It didn’t go well, did it?”

Harry just shook his head. “No. It didn’t go well at all. Even this Voldemort.. I enjoyed his company, but I never really trusted him.”

Lily let the matter drop for the moment. If it was ever important, Harry would tell her, she was sure. Instead, they both said their goodnights.

“Goodnight Harry. I love you.”

“Goodnight Mom. Love you too.” He sent a soft smile her way, and they both headed to bed. It was surely late enough now, and tomorrow was Christmas after all.

…..

_ A Month Later _

Sirius slowed his pace, lining up with James who had started lingering all of a sudden. They were on their way to the Headmaster’s office in Hogwarts, to speak to Albus about Harry being back. Obviously, something was on James’ mind, and Sirius would admit he’d had some thoughts about this too.

“Hey, Pads.. I don’t.. I don’t think we should tell Dumbledore.” James said vaguely, knowing his best friend would understand.

“I know.” Sirius agreed softly. “I know.”

“You’ve noticed it too.. how Harry tenses up when we mention telling Dumbledore what he did.” James almost whispers.

Sirius nodded. “Most three year-olds can’t apparate in a warded zone after canceling out the Cruciatus Curse cast by the Dark Lord himself.”

“We both knew that Harry was never a normal child, even for our standards. Harry has told Lily why that is, and she trusts him, so I’ll trust him too. He’s my son after all, and nothing he does will change the fact that I love him—both him and Danny.” James paused for a moment, letting some hesitancy slip through. “Harry will come talk to us when he’s ready. Until then, I’ll keep being the best father I can be to both of them.”

The two best friends stopped in front of the gargoyles leading up to the Headmaster’s office.

“I suppose it depends then.” He looked straight at James. “Do your loyalties lie with Dumbledore or Harry?”

The answer was obvious to both of them, who only shared it with a gleam in their eyes. They broke out in grins a moment later, to make sure their story was going to be as believable as possible. After all, they were about to spin an epic story of how Sirius saved Harry from the Dark Lord’s evil clutches.

There was no question that their loyalties were to little Harry, even if the toddler knew it or not.

…..

_ One Year and Four Months Later _

Remus dragged his almost unconscious body through the door, barely enough thought process to keep himself from toppling over right then and there. Definitely not enough to notice the two children (now four—almost five years old!) sitting on the ground, watching him with mild curiosity and distinct understanding.

He fell on the couch. In the back of his mind, he apologized to Lily and James for staining their couch with blood. A second later, he was unconscious in an uneasy sleep.

James and Sirius stepped in a moment later, of course, almost just as tired as Remus was. They had stayed up all night in their Animagus forms with him for the full moon, but it still took a toll on all of them.

“Hi Danny, Harry. We’re gonna.. go get some sleep. Don’t disturb Uncle Moony; he’s had a hard night.” James slurred, before dragging himself into his bedroom.

Once the adults were out of sight (or unconscious, in Remus’ case), Danny looked over to Harry. “Can you fix Uncle Remmy?”

“Remus isn’t broken, even if he thinks he is. And it would be hard to explain why his Lycanthropy suddenly disappeared,” Harry pondered. “Any suggestions?”

“Make the transforming hurt less. And make him keep his thoughts.” Danny supplied helpfully.

Harry nodded. “I can do that.”

…..

A couple days later, Harry cornered Remus while they were alone.

The werewolf stared at the bracelet in the kid’s hand. “What is this?”

It was obviously something high caliber, from the many runes carved across the metal surface. Harry had probably found it in one of the drawers around the house, though Remus could tell that most likely wasn’t the case.

“It’s a bracelet I carved with some runes. It will help you keep your mind when you turn, along with making it much less painful. You’ll no longer feel an uneasy hunger whenever you turn, and if, on the off chance you come across a human, it will keep you from harming them, as long as they don’t attack you. I thought I’d also add a couple extra charms as well, such as making sure you’re not affected before and after you transform back, and also increasing your senses, if you so wish.” Harry explained, still holding the band out.

“Wha- Harry, you.. made this?!” Remus’ eyes widened, and he looked at the kid in exasperation.

Harry almost scoffed. “It was a fun challenge. It’ll turn invisible once you put it on; you wont feel it, and I’ve made sure it won’t fall off when you’re in werewolf form.”

“Wow, Harry, this is-” Remus tentatively grabbed the band, lost for words. “How did you make this? You’re only four!”

And so Harry told him about himself. He left out all the fun facts about Voldemort this time; not everybody needed to know his sad past, nor that he split his soul. Instead, Harry told Remus about some of the different lives he’d experienced. Some had werewolves integrated into their daily lives; humans and them coexisted perfectly. How some people would choose to be werewolves, if they so wished. Harry told Remus about how being a werewolf does not always mean a bad thing, and how life was too short to always be worrying about things.

When Remus asked about Dumbledore, claiming that Harry could help save hundreds of people if he maybe even teamed up with him, Harry told him the truth. He knew Remus didn’t want to hear it, but he told him anyways. Dumbledore had known how to make a similar cure, but didn’t, and wouldn’t. He wanted Remus to hate his werewolf part, because then Remus would be more inclined to join the light faction, to break away from his ‘evil half’.

Of course, Remus denied Harry’s words for quite a few minutes. In fact, those minutes bled into an entire week. (Harry had put a couple secrecy charms on Remus, so he wasn’t too worried. Plus, Remus was wearing the bracelet he had made.)

A week later, Remus cornered Harry this time, while he was playing with Danny. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was expecting you to deny my words, but it’s better to get it out there than for you to live in ignorance.”

Remus explained that he’d asked Dumbledore, as ‘the greatest wizard of their time’, if he was able to make anything to lessen the pain of transforming. Dumbledore had only changed the subject, making sure to add in that werewolves were dark creatures, so there was obviously pain involved.

“Yeah, he does that when he’s hiding something. It’s not hard to spot if you’re looking for it.” Harry replied.

“Dumbledore wouldn’t like Harry. He’s too powerful for Dumbledore to control,” Danny cut in, looking upset at that fact, but also making sure Remus understood.

Remus turned towards Harry, looking at the small child who was able to fix his life in a matter of an hour. Dumbledore would obviously want to control Harry, just like he controlled—tried to control—Remus. It was easy to see that Harry didn’t care about being light or dark, what house he was in, or even if someone was a werewolf. Remus had gotten that much from the stories Harry wove, telling of his adventures in other houses.

“Don’t worry, Danny. I’m not going to tell Dumbledore.” Remus smiled softly at the child.

“Harry, Harry, tell us more stories about your other lives!” Danny exclaimed happily, now that his brother wasn’t in any danger.

“Alright, alright. Now, have I told you about the time I got mistaken for a villain in a world full of heroes? They said it was my eye color, which was still bright green at the time-” Harry went on, telling his story with wild details and doing bursts of magic to make it all the more real.

Remus understood that Harry was special. He understood that Dumbledore would want to keep Harry contained and under control because the kid might turn out super evil. But, with how much love Remus could see in his eyes when Harry looked at his brother, and the love he got in return, Remus didn’t really care what Dumbledore thought. After all, Harry had fixed his entire life, which was so broken that Remus didn’t even think it was possible _to_ fix.

Remus caught Harry’s bright emerald eyes at that moment, which seemed to say _“not broken,_ _just damaged”._

…..

Later, again, Remus found some time alone with the kids again. Only a minute, but just long enough to ask what he wanted to.

“Are you ever going to tell James and Sirius?”

“I want to.” Harry replied without hesitation. “I just.. I’m scared, to be honest. I don’t know where their loyalties lie. I don’t know what they’d think of me being sorted into Slytherin, if I were to do so. I don’t know what they’d think of me practicing dark magic.”

“You don’t want them to hate you for being you.” Remus murmured softly. He understood all too well what that was like.

Harry nodded. “If they saw me doing something questionable, that they might not agree with, would they run straight to Dumbledore? Or would they hear me out? I don’t know.”

“Surely you have ways of finding out.”

“I do.” Harry agreed. “But.. I don’t like using them. I don’t like breaking into somebody’s mind and privacy. I hate taking away somebody’s freedom like that.”

“I can try to find out for you, if you want.” Remus offered. He owed Harry so much, this was the least he could do for the boy in front of him.

Remus saw the possibility of being able to get close to his dad and godfather swirl in the boy’s eyes, and watched him light up in glee, no matter how hidden. (Perks of being a werewolf: noticing small details) Remus was so enraptured with Harry’s beautiful eyes filled with such joy, he almost missed Harry’s genuine response. “Thank you.”

James and Sirius appeared a moment later. The three of them were going out for the night, to have some long-needed fun. Lily was going to watch over the kids, and tomorrow night, she was going to have her own night out, shopping with her friends, while the three Marauders watched the twins.

…..

 _ Two Years and  _ _ One _ _ Month Later _

“Harry, Danny, get ready! We’re going to celebrate Dudley’s birthday!” Lily yelled up the stairs to the boy’s room.

Unbeknownst to her, Harry immediately tensed up and stared at the door, as if he was waiting for something to come crashing through it.

“.. Harry?” Danny glanced over nervously. He didn’t like that Harry had suddenly froze up.

Upon hearing Danny’s voice, Harry forced himself to calm down, or at least pretend like it. “I- I’m fine, Danny. I- I’ll be good.”

Danny didn’t believe him, and Harry knew that he didn’t.

Nonetheless, Harry and Danny got ready, and they headed over to the Dursley’s residence. Danny wouldn’t let go of Harry’s hand, and the twins could see that their parents noticed. Lily, especially, was keeping a close eye on Harry, after she realized that her sons were refusing to separate. Harry was just thankful to Danny; he must’ve whispered ‘thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry’ a hundred times before they arrived. Danny took it all in stride, glad he was able to help his brother for once.

The Dursleys were just as Harry remembered. Dudley was spoiled, demanding more and more presents, never happy with what he had. Petunia still screeched like a harpy about every little thing, nitpicking Lily’s life away for running off and marrying James. Vernon kept grumbling about disgusting freaks in his house, but was at least quiet with his complaining.

Not quiet enough for Harry not to hear, however. He flinched every time he heard the word ‘freak’, and he knew that Danny noticed, because his brother would squeeze his hand just a bit harder every time.

At one point, Petunia had needed to grab something in the cupboard under the stairs, and she noticed Harry. “You’re small. Grab me the can of beans, would you?”

They’d turned Harry’s small prison into a pantry, but that didn’t make it any less daunting to look at. Merlin—Harry was having all sorts of flashbacks he didn’t want, and Petunia was nudging him towards the cupboard looking displeased he was taking so long, and suddenly he couldn’t _breathe_ , he couldn’t _think,_ and oh, he was going to be sick, and where was Danny-

“Harry- Harry?!” Suddenly, Danny was in his face, blowing a soft ice breath to snap him back to reality. Harry had taught him how to do fire and ice breath a while back, and really was a fun trick to do.

Harry couldn’t make his voice work, so he did the only thing he could think of, and latched onto his brother as tight as possible. “Don’t leave my sight. Don’t leave. Don’t leave me. Don’t go near them. Don’t go anywhere near them.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here, Harry.” Danny held onto Harry back, making sure he wouldn’t drop his brother, despite said brother being a literal _god._

“Kids, why.. Why don’t you go and play outside for a while?” Lily said with fake enthusiasm, connecting a lot of dots together that she really hoped weren’t true.

Danny led Harry outside, and Dudley numbly followed after them. The birthday-boy had no idea what was going on; he just knew that Harry was stealing the attention from him.

Just as Dudley was about to confront the twins about stealing all of the attention on _his birthday_ , the twins disappeared out of sight. Just straight up vanished. Dudley looked around for them for a little bit, then happily played with his toys, since the twins weren’t here to steal the attention from him anymore.

(Danny had put them under a strong notice-me-not charm with accidental magic, directed straight at the Dursleys for the remainder of the day.)

…..

The rest of the day passed by, and it wasn’t long before the Potters were heading back home. Harry, who had almost immediately relaxed upon being back in his home, was cornered by an over-concerned Lily.

James started making one of his famous dessert creations, while Lily dragged Harry off to a room to make sure he was okay. This was the first time the twins had been separate since she’d told them they were going over to the Dursleys earlier.

“You said you were given to the Dursleys in your first life. You asked to stay over the summer every year—why didn’t you tell me you didn’t want to go?!”

Harry sighed. “This was the first time you’d gone to see your sister in years. I thought I could handle it for one afternoon.”

“That cupboard—the one under the stairs. It set you off.”

Harry tried to act nonchalant, shrugging it off. “That was my room for a good portion of my childhood, the first time around. However, it was much more like a prison.”

“Tell me.” Lily demanded, a fire in her eyes. “Tell me everything they did to you.”

And so Harry told her of how he grew up in his first life. Doing chores at a young age, his room under the stairs, being Dudley’s personal punching bag, being called ‘freak’ more times than he can count. How he hadn’t learned his name until he was five, when the teacher called on him at school. When he’d been given Dudley’s second bedroom. How he had been fed through a small hole in the door, and how there had be iron bars on the window. He told her about the beatings Vernon would give him, and how, in his first life, his growth had been permanently stunted. How he was underfed and beaten till he was black and blue all over.

Once he’d finished, Lily looked horrified. She looked terrifyingly angry—and righteously so, even if the Dursley family that had done that to him was a different family. These Dursleys had done nothing of the sort, and there was little reason to get so mad at them.

Lily remembered something then. “Don’t go anywhere near them, you told Danny.” She interrogated her six year-old. “You didn’t tell me everything.”

Harry weighed the pros and the cons of the situation, but decided to just come out and say it. Perhaps it would be a load off of his chest. And so Harry told his mother.

He told her about the times when Vernon would come home drunk or angry when he was little, and how he’d drag little Harry up to his room sometimes. Harry told her about how Vernon stopped needing excuses as he got older, and would just do it whenever he pleased. Drag him up to his room and use his body like it was nothing more than worthless garbage to be used. Harry supposed, to Vernon, that was what he was. Harry told his mother how it had only gotten worse after he’d gone to Hogwarts, since now he _knew_ he was a wizard, and that made it all the worse.

Lily wrapped her arms around her small boy, weeping tears for all the pain her son had to go through. Harry, however, felt lighter than he had in years, perhaps because he’d finally gotten a big load off of his chest—one he hadn’t noticed was there until suddenly, it wasn’t.

That night, James fed them all some of his homemade chocolate-marshmallow-pudding delight, and Danny slept in Harry’s bed, with his arms wrapped protectively around his brother.

…..

_ A Month Later _

Harry sighed contently, enjoying the feeling of the soft grass under him, the warm breeze around him, and his brother laying next to him. The twins had just turned seven earlier that day, and they’d just gotten done with the ‘small’ party that had been set up for them.

There hadn’t been that many people at the party, no, but that didn’t mean it was any less exciting. Everybody was sending presents to the fabled ‘boy-who-lived-through-a-kidnapping-from-the-Dark-Lord’, which was conveniently shortened to ‘boy-who-lived’. Harry wasn’t sure what to think, now that he had the same nickname as he did in his first life. He supposed it was better than Danny being revered as a hero for wiping out the Dark Lord as a year-old baby.

Right now, though, all of Harry’s worries were flying away with the soft breeze. Harry could hear the rustle of the leaves in the trees, the soft chirps of the birds and crickets, and his brother’s steady breathing next to him.

All in all, it had been a wonderful day, and Harry would not trade it for anything.

“Harry,” Danny breathed softly, not wanting to break the soothing mood of the night sky. “What’s your favorite thing in the entire universe? Out of every universe and life you’ve been in, what did you like best?”

It didn’t take long for Harry to come up with an answer. “I like space.” The two boys stared at the infinite cosmos above. There was not a cloud in the sky tonight, and it seemed everything around them had a calming attitude. “The infinite cosmos above. All the space, stars, planets, everything up there. That is my favorite thing.”

Danny stared into the endless abyss of the night sky and smiled. “Yeah, I can see what you mean.”

The twins watched the stars in the night sky for hours, enjoying the peace and quiet, and basking in each other’s company. It seemed every star in the sky was out tonight, giving the twins plenty to look at.

Sometimes, throughout the night, Harry would point at a random constellation and tell Danny all about it. Other times, he would tell of his adventures in space, from the times he was fighting in a galactic war to the times where he’d simply float around for a couple years with nothing but books, his thoughts, and a love for space bigger than the universe itself.

…..

_ One Year and Three Months Later _

Harry sighed, paying attention to all of the small sounds of the night. While it was only October, the air was gaining a chilly breeze to it, though it was easily countered with a small heating charm. Sometimes it was good to get out of the house and walk around, even during the dead of night.

Harry continued along the small pathway in the park, looking up at the beautiful starry sky. Perhaps walks at night were better, if only for the quiet peace that always goes on, and a chance to look up into the galaxy itself. Nobody else was usually outside at this time, so it was the perfect time for Harry to have some time to himself.

However, tonight didn’t seem to be the case. Harry could hear another person’s footsteps getting closer, and he hoped it wasn’t some child services person demanding why an eight year-old was outside alone at this time of night.

He sighed and turned around, only to be confronted with somebody he most definitely did not expect.

“Riddle?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowie!! You made it to the end of the chapter!!! I commend you. Though, if you got to chapter 3, you might like the book actually, but nahhhh that's impossible because I wrote this, and this is literal garbage.
> 
> So I guess.. tell me what you guys think?? I love reading your comments, and kudos are always appreciated- and oh dear I better just publish this before my friend ends me for not publishing soon enough
> 
> (I hope you enjoyed :D) (Also if you see any mistakes let me know because guess who doesn't edit anything :D)


	4. Who Do You Love?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom and Harry have a little talk, Tom promotes himself to 'slave' status, Harry has like 17 panic attacks in one, and the author has no idea what's going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooooo my good readerssssss. I have returned!!! With a new chapter!!! I'd say this is long overdue but it's actually been a really short time since my last update, and like, I wrote 20,000 words in less than two weeks of another fanfic, and I'm still not sure how the hell i did that.
> 
> So in this chapter, I have no clue what's going on. simple as that. So sorry if anything is confusing. I'll try to explain it better if you comment your questions, soooo
> 
> (Also this has gotten so popular how the hell) (But thank you all so much!!!) Thanks for all the comments you've given this piece of garbage, so if you have any plot ideas or scenes you'd like to see, lemme know down in the comments, and I'll see what I can do! :D
> 
> I just want comments I'm so sorry.
> 
> Here's a new chapter.

Riddle—he had _hair_ again, and wasn’t sporting a snake-face, but it was definitely _him_ —seemed to have only just noticed Harry, judging from the way he immediately tensed and froze up. His bright, scarlet red eyes did nothing but stare at Harry with wide eyes, nor had he moved a muscle otherwise.

Harry thought Riddle’s eyes were a very pretty color. They looked tired and weary, like he’d been working too hard and not getting near enough sleep, or perhaps from stress, and there was a mix of emotions showing, as if they were making up for the lack of reactions Tom was showing otherwise.

And then they started leaking tears.

Tom Marvolo Riddle was _crying._

Harry didn’t know what to do. This had certainly never happened before. Not in a single one of his lives. (Albeit, most had nothing to do with Voldemort.) Voldemort had never dared to show weakness to anybody.

However.. Tom Riddle was not Voldemort.

Riddle raised a shaky hand to his face, gently touching his cheek. “Oh.”

He didn’t seem surprised that there were tears steaming down his face. It seems he was still frozen in shock over seeing Harry again. Harry realized that this must not have been Riddle’s first time crying recently, if he wasn’t surprised by their presence.

Harry summoned a calming draught. The faint wisp of magic he used to do so reached Riddle’s magic easily, as it was only gently floating around him.

And Riddle broke down completely.

“I’m sorry, I’m _so sorry_ , I wasn’t thinking when I tried to hurt your family, I swear I didn’t mean to-” Riddle started almost hyperventilating, falling on his knees and eyes leaking even more than before. He tried to wipe them away with the sleeve of his robes, but more and more tears kept reappearing and it was useless and now his face was a mess, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, because everything was useless and why did he even try in the first place. “I didn’t mean to make you leave and Merlin, all I can do is mess up and all I’ve done is hurt you more and more and I don’t know why you even bothered to put up with me in the first place and now I felt your magic again and I’m back to realizing what a big mistake I made and I _still can’t find them._ I can’t even begin to apologize for everything and I can’t find the last two and I don’t even have a _clue_ as to where they are and I don’t want you to leave me alone again because it _hurts_ being away from you and it _hurts_ not feeling your magic and it _hurts_ knowing that you hate me and that I’ve messed up my only chance and I can’t even do _one thing_ right without messing up even more and Merlin, _I’m so pathetic_ -”

Tom finally ran out of breath, only leaving Harry just as confused, if not more, than when he started.

“Riddle, what-” Harry started, then decided to just shove the potion into the crying wizard’s hands.

Riddle’s hands were shaking so badly Harry wasn’t sure how he actually got the potion into his mouth, nor why Riddle, the most paranoid person Harry knew, would down a potion without even asking what it was.

Soon enough, Riddle was able to wipe away the last of the tears off of his face without more reappearing. The infamous Dark Lord was sitting cross cross on the ground at Harry’s feet, looking even more tired than before.

(Harry wondered if the tiredness was his fault in the first place.)

The leaves on the trees blew in the wind, and the stars up above were shining brightly down on everyone. The full moon was only a couple days away, so it looked larger and closer and lit up the whole park in a faint glow, just enough to see everything. Every couple seconds, a cricket would chirp from somewhere along the trees, but other than that, it was quiet. The night was a melancholy peaceful, with the calmness surrounding them hinting at something deeper, of something fond that is long gone.

“.. Thank you.” Riddle sighed, shoulders drooping like they were carrying a burden much too big for him to handle.

“You’ve been reabsorbing your horcruxes.” Harry whispered into the dead of night, taking a seat on the grass across from the dark wizard.

Riddle hummed an agreement. He looked towards the ground, sighing once more. “.. I’m sorry.”

Harry waited to meet Riddle’s scarlet red eyes with his vibrant green. “Why?”

“.. I thought that..” Riddle trailed off, looking away from Harry’s eyes first, which seemed to look directly into his soul. (Maybe that was the problem.) “.. I thought that reabsorbing my horcruxes would give me another chance with you. It was a stupid idea; I know. You’ve no reason to change your mind, and I shouldn’t have even expected it in the first place. But, well, hey, when you _do_ end up rejecting me, at least I’d be able to die.”

“I.. I don’t understand,” Harry admitted. “You’re.. not afraid of dying anymore?”

“I’m still _terrified_ , but.. it hurt a lot when you left. A lot more than you may think.” Tom pulled out a single blade of grass, determined not to meet Harry’s gaze. “I don’t think I’d be able to handle it again, to be honest.”

It was quiet for a moment, as Harry paused to think.

“I’m not asking you to, but..” Harry sighed a moment later, almost like a breathy whisper. “What would you give up for another chance with me?”

There was not a trace of hesitation in his voice. “Everything.”

The night was quiet, as if even the nocturnal critters had realized the somber mood that reigned upon them.

It took Harry a while to think of an answer, to come up with one, but Riddle didn’t push it, as if he didn’t expect an answer in the first place.

“.. I won’t go back with you,” Harry stated. “To your home.”

“I know.”

“But maybe,”

Riddle looked over with such hope in his eyes that Harry felt almost overwhelmed with the sudden emotions.

“Maybe we can meet again,” Harry finished.

Riddle smiled, just a small one, but it was a _real_ smile. No cunning manipulations behind it, only his true emotions lying bare for once. And as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, as did the blind hope in Riddle’s eyes, into something much more skeptical, unbelieving. Almost.. scared, even.

“What do you want in return?”

“Hm?”

“I’m not an idiot. You’ve said that we can meet again right after asking what I’d give up for you,” Tom replied. “You want something in return.”

Harry tilted his head. “What do you think I’d want?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you.”

“Well, I want Danny to be happy. I don’t want everybody to force him into a life he doesn’t want. I want to know the reason why I’m here. Why I can’t just die in one life and be done. I’m tired, Riddle.” Harry’s eyes reflected his age—his true age, thousands upon thousands of years old, and oh so tired of living. “I don’t ‘want’ things, Riddle. I don’t have anything _to_ want. It’s as simple as that.”

“You hold my life in your hands. You know that.” Tom sighed, just as tired as Harry was.

“I’ve always known that,” Harry answered. “I’ve always held everybody’s life in the palm of my hands, especially yours.”

It took Riddle a moment to connect the dots, to realize what Harry meant by that. “.. You said you’ve killed me once, in another life.”

“My first one. It was a duel to the death, only minutes after I’d received my ‘Master of Death’ status.” Harry sighed. “I didn’t realize what I was until a few years had passed and I still hadn’t aged a single minute. I never killed anybody else magical directly, once I realized what it would do. Backhanded tactics that worked around magic, yes, but.. never directly.”

Riddle was looking at him with such blatant fear and understanding, as if he already knew what Harry was going to say, and how there was nothing he could do to stop it. With such an uneasy dread, but still so much respect for the small boy next to him.

“I hate controlling people. Taking away their free will. I know all too well what it feels like, and I hated it so much. The very first few years of my life, all I had wanted to do was die. I should’ve died while I had the chance,” Harry continued. “So I would never take away somebody else’s free will, never control somebody. Even if they gave me clear permission, I would still be hesitant to do so.”

“Just say it.” Riddle knew what it was, and just wanted it to be over with, but instead Harry was dragging it out, trying to delay the inevitable.

Harry sighed. “When I killed Voldemort in the first life, in the duel to the death, I won ownership of Tom Marvolo Riddle.”

Tom, for his part, seemed much calmer than Harry had expected him to be. “So what did you plan to do now that I know?”

“The same thing I’ve done in every life. Nothing.”

“You’ve never used this to your advantage?”

“The most I’ve ever done with it is make it so you can’t hurt me. Never anything else.”

Tom hummed. “And if I told you I wouldn’t mind if you used it more?”

Harry turned then, to look straight into Riddle’s eyes. “I would say that you’re lying.”

“Then use it and make sure I am telling the truth.”

“That would strip you bare of everything that made you a Slytherin,” Harry stated, as if he wasn’t sure how to respond to Riddle’s response.

“I already knew my life lied in your hands long before you told me I was your slave,” Tom replied, as if calling himself a slave was an easy thing to do—as if he didn’t mind it.

“Why don’t you seem to mind any of this? You- You’re Tom Riddle! I’ve never known him to be one to bow down to any other, especially not of his own free will. I just told you I won’t use it to my advantage, and I meant that. I don’t like meddling in the affairs of the universe anymore, only watching as a bystander. Don’t bother me, and I would never stand in your way.” Harry wanted to protest more, to say that Riddle should leave while he can. Harry had tried so hard to get out of his imprisonment with the Dursleys, even if it had been so long ago, he still remembered it all so clearly. He hated it; he hated it all so much.

“I don’t mind because it’s you.”

It was such a simple answer, almost too simple for it to be the truth. Too open, too bare, too honest.

And yet, Riddle continued. “I find I wouldn’t mind stepping down from the throne for a while, just being plain old Tom Riddle for once. Or even being lower than that, only what you want me to be.”

Harry didn’t know how to respond to that. He never wanted anything like this to happen. “You’ll never find where your last two horcruxes are at. They’re far out of your reach.”

If Riddle noticed the sudden change in topic, he didn’t comment on It. “Yes, well, that leaves me in a bit of a bind, doesn’t it?”

“You’re not going to ask where they are?”

“Would you tell me if I asked you?”

“I would.”

Riddle hummed. “Knowing the location doesn’t help if they’re out of reach.”

“True,” Harry agreed. “One is buried deep in Bellatrix’s vault, only openable by a Black. The other is hidden away in the Black’s ancestral home, a place hidden from anybody not related.”

“Like I said, out of reach,” Riddle sighed. “But, thank you.”

“You shouldn’t be thanking me,” Harry whispered.

The two of them laid in the grass for a moment, the only noises being the critters of the night and the thoughts in their heads.

“What makes you hesitant to use your power over me?” Tom cut through the silence with a soft, deep tone.

“How much I like it,” Harry replied, equally soft. “It scares me how much I’d enjoy using it, even knowing how much I hate it myself. I hate being controlled so much. Being used and controlled, treated as nothing more than a tool.”

Riddle seemed to understand where Harry was coming from, but didn’t comment.

Harry continued. “Why would you put yourself in such a position?”

“I might be able to earn your trust, if you knew that I was in a position that wouldn’t dare defy you.”

“Earn my trust?”

Riddle paused, mumbling something under his breath to himself, _(“he really thinks I’m an idiot”)_ , then sighing. “You’ve never trusted me. Not once. You laughed, perhaps even enjoyed my company, but you never once let your guard down. You were always prepared that I’d do something against your family, even if you were right in the end. You’ve even protected yourself against me, rendering me unable to harm you. There is no trust. You don’t trust me. It’s as simple as that.”

“Why do you want to earn my trust?” Harry cocked his head to the side. It had been many years since he’d been this confused, asked this many questions. He thought he knew almost everything about this life, about Tom Marvolo Riddle. And yet, he just kept learning more.

“Perhaps to show you who Tom Riddle is. You’ve met Voldemort, probably more times than I’d like, but it’s obvious you’ve never dealt with Tom Riddle before. Maybe you hadn’t thought there was a difference, or maybe you didn’t see a reason to do anything but get rid of Voldemort. I guess.. I’d like to show you who Tom Riddle is. Maybe prove that he’s worth saving in another life, prove that you’re not just wasting your time when you hang out with me, or any other version of me.”

“That’s a stupid reason.”

Riddle was almost insulted by that; he’s trying so hard to be noticed by Harry, only for it to be not enough, not wanted in the first place.

“I’m not worth the effort.” Harry almost wanted to laugh, but it only came out as a half-formed smile that fell apart immediately. “I’m the Master of Death, but.. as Harry Potter, I’m not special. You’re only going to be disappointed once you get to know me.”

“You’re wrong.”

And suddenly Tom Riddle, his once sworn enemy, the person he’d _murdered,_ was looking at him with such awe and amazement and adoration, like Harry actually _deserved_ it. Deserved to be thought of so highly, when his staircase to get there was built on lies and expectations he couldn’t uphold.

“You don’t know that, Riddle.”

“..Why do you call me ‘Riddle’?”

“What else should I call you?” Harry asked. He expected Riddle to demand to be called Voldemort, never his infernal muggle name-

“Tom,” Riddle answered easily, painfully unaware of Harry’s internal thoughts. “Surely you have that right, out of anyone.”

“I don’t want it.”

“..I don’t know what else to do. What else I can give you.” Tom whispered, even then, sounding close to cracking. He smiled—much too fake—until he couldn’t hold it in anymore, and laughed. A broken laugh, Harry recognized, when one has nothing left to tie them to sanity.

(Harry’s done that laugh more times than he can count. Each time, on the verge of a mental breakdown.)

“I can’t get to the last two horcruxes; I can’t just die. Or perhaps I deserve to suffer. I don’t know anymore,” Tom admitted.

After a long moment, Harry sighed. “..Let me think for a little bit. I.. I don’t know what to do either. You were right—I’ve never gotten to know Tom Riddle. I avoided him. I didn’t want to know what would happen if we ever met up.. Guess I know now though, huh.”

“Do you wish you hadn’t, now that you know?”

“I’m.. _scared_ , mostly. You have such high hopes and expectations for me. I know magic, I know where the universe ends, I know things that you would not _believe._ But.. I don’t know myself. I don’t know what I am. Who I am,” Harry replied in a soft tone. “I’m good at pretending, so much so that I don’t know what’s a mask and what’s not anymore. I have no defining personality traits that would make me stand out. No ambition. No reason to keep on living, other than the fact that I can’t die.”

Riddle hummed as a response, not sure what he could possibly say to that. (Harry didn’t think there was a correct response.)

“Come back in three days, and I’ll have an answer for you.”

. . . . .

“Dad, Siri, I.. I have something I should probably tell you.” Harry looked between the two of them with both determination and hesitation in his eyes.

It was the third day; tonight, Harry would go out and meet Tom Riddle and tell him his decision. He hopes it’s the right one. He doesn’t want to mess this up, like he always seems to.

(Harry doesn’t know what to think anymore. It seems he’s only gotten worse at making decisions recently.)

(Harry finds himself missing the times when he was floating in space, when he didn’t have to make a single decision.)

Remus was sitting on the couch, sipping hot tea and reading a book. Lily was in the kitchen, brewing a potion over the stove. Danny was sitting on the floor next to Harry, giving his brother one of his reassuring smiles—that Harry is doing the right thing, and not just making another mistake in the long list of mistakes he’s made.

James and Sirius, playing a magical board game, looked over to their son, as did the two other adults. ( _‘Was Harry finally going to tell them?’_ running through their minds) They seemed excited, as if they’d been waiting for Harry to bring up this point for years and years. (Harry wondered if they’d known. If they’d would’ve accepted him from the beginning.)

“This talk is.. long overdue. I should’ve told you years ago, but.. I was scared. I still am, but.. I need to do it. It’s not right to keep it from you because of my insecurities,” Harry started, realizing that he was avoiding bringing the actual topic up, and hating himself a bit more for it.

Remus was sending Harry a discreet thumbs up, smiling softly into his book, and he knew that Lily was listening in as well.

“You can tell us anything, Harry. Whenever you want,” James reassured him.

“Take your time. We’ll wait however long.” Ironic, coming from Sirius Black, but Harry believed his words nonetheless.

Harry breathed in, and out. He kept his eyes closed, so he could almost pretend he was talking to himself, instead of facing judgment from two of the most important people in his life.

“You’ve read the Tales of Beedle the Bard before, of course. The story of Death giving three of his possessions to three brothers—the Invisibility Cloak, the Resurrection Stone, and the Elder Wand,” Harry murmured. “The person who collects all three of them is known as the Master of Death.”

“In my first life, at age 17, I was the idiot who collected all three of the Deathly Hallows, and became the Master of Death. A being unable to die, with all of the magic in the universe at their disposal.”

Harry told his family in more detail that the other times, knowing that the others were listening in as well. He told them of how he would be reborn throughout dimensions, and how he’d come across the title in his first life.

They, being James and Sirius, were surprised to learn that Harry was Harry in his first life too.

“Wait- So Voldemort has the Resurrection Stone?” James asked.

“He doesn’t know what it is. Only thinks it’s a family heirloom.”

“And Dumbledore has the Elder Wand? Does he know?” Sirius prompted.

“Dumbledore spent a good portion of his life chasing after the Hallows. He knows exactly what it is, and knows that your Invisibility Cloak is most likely the one from the story.”

James tilted his head to the side. “Why don’t you like Dumbledore?”

Harry winced, then tried to play it off. “What do you mean?”

Lily and Remus looked like they were both about to jump into the conversation, just in case it took a bad direction. Harry was sure Danny had a similar expression, but didn’t look at his twin behind him.

“It’s always been obvious you don’t get along with him. Is this why? Because he would know what you are?”

“..Partially, yes. But more so because he doesn’t like what I am,” Harry answered hesitantly. “Dumbledore can’t control me. He’s not a bad person, but.. he’s got convoluted ideas. Ideas that do much more harm than good.”

“Like what?”

“I grew up with the Dursleys in the first life. That was his decision, to send me there. I grew up knowing that I had to kill somebody. That I stood a better chance against the Dark Lord than an experienced wizard with decades of experience behind him. Imagine being told as an eleven year-old, who had just gotten introduced to magic, the magical world, that you were expected to _kill somebody._ ”

“You gotta admit Prongs, that was a pretty bad plan,” Sirius input helpfully, trying to lighten the mood.

Harry finished telling his story, about some of the things he’s seen and done, how he helped Remus out, that he had told Lily the night he returned home, and many other things. Harry shared the story about Voldemort again, only partially, leaving out the horcruxes and his sad past, telling instead of how he’d defeated the dark wizard when he was 17.

“Well, now you know what I am. I.. I really didn’t mean to keep it from you for that long. I was scared that you’d run to Dumbledore the first chance you got.” Harry tilted his head a bit, letting his bangs fall over his eyes. He watched the two Marauders with a calculated expression, already building up an emotional wall in case things didn’t turn out like he wanted.

“Well.. for being an immortal being, you sure can be oblivious sometimes,” James replied.

Sirius nodded his agreement. “I can’t believe you didn’t realize we’ve always been on your side, Small Prongs!”

It took a moment for their words to sink in, and Harry wondered why he was more surprised by everything in the life he’d already lived. “Wait, really?”

“No matter what, we’ve always been, and always will be, on your side!” James nodded passionately, wrapping his arm around Sirius, and then pulling Harry into a massive hug.

Harry let himself be squeezed to death for a few minutes, basking in the warmth of their love and acceptance before pulling away. “You.. You realize that I’ll never be the son you want.”

“We know.”

“There’s a good chance I’ll be in Slytherin.”

“Well.. normally, I can’t stand Slytherins..” Sirius started, “But if it’s you, I’m sure I’ll be able to handle it somehow.” He dramatically put a hand to his forehead, feigning distress. James played along, wiping a fake tear from his eye and catching Sirius as he fell over.

“I study dark magic all the time,” Harry retorted.

“I can see why you and Dumbledore don’t get along.”

“You’re all being insufferable! Why don’t you seem to care about any of this?!” Harry snapped, desperate for his family to understand.

“We don’t care because it’s you. We love you, Harry. Always have, always will. _Nothing_ will ever change that,” James answered, like it really was that simple.

(Harry was reminded of Riddle’s words earlier. _‘I don’t mind because it’s you.’_ Harry remembered the look Riddle gave him a moment later, filled with adoration and amazement, like Harry had done something to deserve that look.)

(For half a second, Harry could almost picture Riddle adding on the extra sentence. _‘I love you, Harry.’)_

Harry slumped back, falling on the floor. He started sobbing, choking on the words that desperately wanted to come out. “Thank- Thank you!” He wiped his face on his sleeve, but more tears appeared. “Thank you for loving me! For accepting me!”

Everybody crowded around the small boy crying on the floor, hugging him. For once, Harry almost looked his age—a kid who just wants to be loved. Who grew up unloved and uncared for, having to hide his existence from everybody for years and years and years, out of fear of being rejected for who he is.

The family—Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, Danny—sat on the floor hugging their son, making sure he knew that he could always count on them. That he didn’t have to hide from them, pretend to be somebody he’s not. Harry could just be himself for once, and have people who still love him for it.

. . . . .

“Fancy meeting you here, Riddle,” Harry grinned slyly.

“Yes, what a coincidence,” Tom drawled on.

Harry looked out into the trees surrounding them, feeling the rush of wind on his body, hearing the critters chirping away in the dead of night. He looked up into the sky, filled with countless stars on the clear night sky, and sighed contently. “I’ve made my decision.”

He met Tom’s crimson red eyes, almost glowing against the dark of the night. Harry wondered if his eyes looked the same to Riddle, shining with years and years worth of experience behind them.

“Become my apprentice.”

Riddle’s eyes widened in pleasant glee, as if he almost didn’t believe what he’d just heard. Harry could understand that; he’d felt the same when all of his family had accepted him so easily, like it didn’t matter what he was. “What, really?”

“I’ll teach you magic, as long as you actually listen to me-”

“Of course.”

“And reabsorb your last two horcruxes.”

Tom, for his part, didn’t even hesitate, as if he’d expected that to be a condition from the moment Harry said it. “That’s fine.”

The two of them stayed in silence for a moment, with Riddle studying Harry’s face determinedly, which was probably still red from when he’d cried only a couple hours ago.

“.. Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Harry replied. And it was true. He felt better than he had in a long time. He was at peace with the world, with his family, and with himself. “I’m fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowie you got to the end. I hope you understood what was going on better than I did. Where did the James and Sirius scene come from. That wasn't supposed to happen. But it did.
> 
> I didn't even know Harry had insecurity problems until like 10 minutes ago. When I wrote it.
> 
> Anyways hope you enjoyed :D


	5. And Then Things Were Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom learns about the horcrux Harry had inside of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D
> 
> I've returned!! I am back!! A new chapter!!! I HIT 10,000 READS OH MY GOD. AND I'M ABOUT TO GET 1000 KUDOS. HOW THE HELL.
> 
> So, as a (very very late) present, have some angst.
> 
> Okay so it's not that bad in angst... I think.

“Alright, first thing’s first. What’re the Death Eaters doing?” Harry asked, pacing back and forth softly on the grass.

Tom Riddle, in all of his glory, was sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of the eight year-old. “They most likely think I’m dead. After you left, I told Lucius to give me my diary back-”

“Probably a good idea.”

“-and promptly never summoned any of them again. Wait, what?”

“Oooh, yeah, you only read the first one,” Harry muttered, messing up his hair. He waved his hand and a book appeared out of nowhere, then held it out for Tom. “Here. Consider it a gift.”

Tom took the book carefully, as if he was afraid to damage the small story with just his touch. (Was it really that precious to him?) “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” He frowned, squinting up at Harry. “I have some concerns.”

“My second year, back in my first life.”

“Yes, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that—your first book, I mean.” Tom cleared his throat. “You’re a Parseltongue?!”

(Harry was glad he could still get under Riddle’s skin, no matter how long it’s been.)

“Yup. You gave me the ability, actually.”

“This title only raises more questions,” Tom deadpanned. “ _Why_ exactly were you in the Chamber of Secrets? How did you even learn about it? I didn’t find it until my fifth year.”

Harry sat down next to Tom, shrugging. “Well, you see, there’s a very good reason for that. Some crappy book decided to possess my friend, so I had to go down there and stab a basilisk. I think I died at one point, actually. I mean, that was definitely Riddle’s goal.”

Tom put his face in his hands and groaned. “Are all of these books about me trying to murder you?!”

“No. Not the third one. But all the rest, definitely.” Harry grinned. “I won’t spoil anymore for you~!”

Tom only groaned again.

“Second thing,” Harry started, and Tom glanced up, still hiding most of his face. “I know you’re super skilled in magic. That’s great. You know lots and lots, and that’s wonderful. Now, forget it all. You know nothing.”

“Um.”

“Third thing,” Harry continued, as if his previous statement didn’t need any explanation, “I’m going to recruit Siri for horcrux retrieval. Meaning that you get to meet my family.”

“Harry, if you wanted me dead, why didn’t you just say so?” Tom sighed.

“You won’t die. I mean, don’t try attacking Danny, or I’d probably help them end you, but you should be fine other than that,” Harry reassured, patting the elder wizard on the back.

Tom only frowned, then sent a calculated look Harry’s way. “Danny- That’s your twin brother, is he not?”

“Yep. He’s the chosen one from the prophecy, you know, destined to end you- wait, you never heard the prophecy,” Harry started.

“Snape only graciously told me the ending, yes.”

“Yeah, yeah, Snape is a two-timing jerk. Loyal to Dumbledore because you killed Mom- wait.. Huh, he might still be completely loyal to you, actually. You never killed her in this lifetime,” Harry pondered, shrugging again. “Anyways, the prophecy. _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..”_

“That sounds fake.”

“I’ll tell you this once and only once, Riddle.” Harry’s warm tone had become ice cold. Tom almost flinched under the power of the glare directed straight at him. “If you even _think_ about hurting Danny, I will _**end**_ you.”

“I have no intention of harming your brother,” Tom replied carefully. “I just wanted to know what to think of the kid destined to kill me.”

“Danny doesn’t care about the prophecy. He’s a wonderful kid,” Harry sighed softly. “I would do anything for him.”

Tom hummed, not doubting his words.

. . . . .

“I’m home!” Harry yelled throughout the house. “And I brought a friend!”

Danny was only sitting in the living room, reading a fairly large book lazily. He glanced over to Tom, and stared for a moment, then glanced over to Harry with a soft smile.

Tom didn’t know what to think of the kid already. It was obvious that Danny had recognized him from the calculated gaze the kid had held; Tom had fallen under the kid’s judgment, and somehow, he had seemed to pass. He, too, glanced to Harry, wondering if Danny sees the same thing in Harry that he does.

“A friend?” Another voice came from next to them, and Tom startled out of his thoughts upon seeing Lily Potter step out of the kitchen. It was pretty obvious that little Danny got his fiery red hair from her, though his was as much of a mess as Harry’s always seemed to be.

“Yeah, this is-”

“Our little Harry brought home a friend! He’s growing up so fast!” James came around another corner, pretending to cry in Sirius’ arms.

“Soon enough he’ll be off to college, leaving us behind!” Sirius joined in.

Lily groaned. “I tried to explain the muggle world _once,_ and this is what happens.”

The twins only smiled at their antics, seemingly used to it all. (‘ _Is this what it’s like to have parents?’_ Tom wonders.)

Remus Lupin trailed after them a moment later, looking much better for a werewolf than Tom had suspected he would.

(Was that Harry’s doing?)

He noticed the look in Lupin’s eyes a moment later, looking at Harry like he was the entire world, and Tom knew that he was right.

“So, Harry,” James grinned, as if he was about to make fun of Harry bringing home a girlfriend. Wait- “Who’s this charming young man?”

“Well, Riddle, at least you have your looks back,” Harry muttered, making Tom have to stifle a smile that threatened to break loose. “This is Tom Riddle. He’s agreed to become my apprentice.”

Tom could tell that Lily recognized his name immediately, and he wondered how much Harry had told them. She stared at him with a similar expression Danny had a moment ago, judging his every move.

“Tom Riddle.. I’ve heard that name somewhere before..” Sirius muttered, scratching his head.

Danny waited a few seconds before helpfully supplying a hint. “Harry told you about him yesterday.”

Remus spluttered, obviously catching on first. “You- You brought home Voldemort?!”

Tom dutifully stayed silent during this endeavor.

Sirius had a coughing fit while James seemed oddly calm for the situation. “Harry, when you said you studied dark magic, I didn’t think you meant the embodiment of it.”

(Tom should’ve known he was only staying calm to hash out a joke. It seems like something he can imagine James Potter doing. He’s heard about him enough from Snape, after all, though perhaps that isn’t the best analogy-)

“If you don’t want him here, we’ll meet up elsewhere, but I thought I’d introduce him to you. That, and I need to recruit Sirius for a mission.”

“If you trust him enough to bring him home, then we’ll trust him as well.” Lily answered for all of them. Even if it didn’t look like it, they agreed with her.

Sirius recovered from his coughing fit. “So, what did you need me for, you little troublemaker?”

“I need you to go into Bellatrix’s vault and grab Tom’s horcrux.”

“His _whAT?!”_ Sirius screeched. _(Oh, he knows what they are.)_

“Horcrux,” Harry repeated with no hesitation.

Sirius waved his hands around wildly, trying to prove his point. He turned to Tom, addressing him directly for the first time. “You made a _horcrux?!?!?!”_

“Five, actually,” Tom mumbled.

_“YOU MADE FIVE HORCRUXES?!?! ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?!”_

For the next few minutes, everybody in the house got to behold a miraculous sight. The Dark Lord Voldemort, feared by so many, was being scolded and lectured for about ten minutes straight by Sirius Black on how reckless he was and what he’d do if he ever hurt Harry. Tom took it all in stride, occasionally apologizing or agreeing with the very angry Sirius.

_“~Your godfather is terrifying.~”_ Tom sighed, subconsciously inching away from Sirius after he’d finished ranting.

_“~He is a Black, after all. I think it runs in the blood.~”_

_“_ _~Terrifying.~”_

After that, the family seemed pretty at ease with Tom, even after Harry explained what horcruxes were to the rest of them. Riddle, however, stayed tense, obviously not knowing how to act around the family. Danny first started questioning Tom on a number of things, such as magic, his relationship with Harry, the best method to do a spell, and what books he’d read, and Remus soon joined in asking questions, just as curious, but a little more hesitant around the dark wizard.

The other four—James, Sirius, Lily, and Harry—were also lounging around the living room. They seemed busy with their own things, but Tom could tell they were listening in to their conversation intently. James and Sirius were playing a magical board game, Harry had a new book out, and Lily went back to her potion.

“What are you going to be doing with Harry?” Remus asked.

“I have no actual clue. He told me I was smart, and then told me I should forget everything I know,” Tom sighed.

“So you do you have memories from the horcruxes you reabsorbed?” Danny questioned next.

“Not really memories, but a bit of their emotions.”

“What’s happening with the war?”

“My followers think I’m dead, and I’m content to leave it that way.”

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Anything chocolate- wait, what?” Tom looked over to Danny with a raised eyebrow, as if he’d heard the kid wrong. “Why would you want to know that?”

“Research purposes,” Danny answered thoughtfully, nodding.

Tom squinted.

“So, what’re you planning to do when Harry goes to Hogwarts?” Remus tried next.

“Go back to planning world domination.”

He felt the suspicious glares of the entire room on him, albeit the twins. Harry sent a pointed look his way, letting Tom know he didn’t believe a word of that.

Tom sighed. “I have no clue what I’ll be doing. Suppose it’s up to Harry.”

“Hey, Harry,” Danny glanced over to his brother. “What kind of mark was Mr. Voldemort supposed to give me that one night?”

“Please just call me Tom.”

“Hm?” Harry looked up from his book. “The mark? It was a lightning bolt on the forehead. I’m sure Tom could tell you what it is.”

“Wait, me?”

“You have all the context clues. I wanna see if you can figure it out.”

Remus glanced over. “Harry, exactly how much have you told Mr. Riddle?”

“Just Tom,” he sighed. “And let’s see.. I know about the scar, the prophecy, the mother’s protection, Parseltongue.. only survivor of the killing curse.. pain whenever Quirrel looked at you..” He counted off each of the things on his fingers, chewing on his bottom lip.

Everyone watched the moment it clicked in Tom’s mind. “Horcrux. You- The scar is a horcrux. You were my horcrux.”

“Dang, I thought it would take you longer,” Harry said casually.

Tom was staring at Harry with a horrified look in his eyes; his face was paling quickly as the thought sunk in. His hands were shaking, clenched together so tightly they were white.

“N- No. You don’t get it. You- You were my _horcrux._ ”

_(Why doesn’t he_ _**understand?** _ _)_

Harry knew that something was wrong now, and he frowned. “Tom?”

“I- I think I’m going to leave now. I- I’ve overstayed my welcome.” Tom looked close to hyperventilating, perhaps already was. He made it over to the front door and was already slamming it shut behind him before any of them realized what was really happening.

Harry stared at the door for a moment, then glanced to his family. They were wearing confused expressions, looking a bit concerned at why Tom had suddenly left.

_(Did Tom know he’d already gotten the Potter’s to care for him, even in such a short amount of time?)_

“I’m.. I’m gonna go after him.” Harry decided, glancing back at his family for unnecessary permission.

Lily nodded with a soft smile. “Invite him to dinner tonight. We’re having spaghetti.”

Danny met Harry’s eyes, sending him reassurance he didn’t know he needed. And then Harry was off, closing the door behind him.

. . . . .

“You found me awfully quick,” Tom muttered, not even glancing over from his book.

“With a soul as mutilated as yours, I could find you anywhere in a heartbeat,” Harry replied easily, sitting down next to the dark wizard.

“Is that the only reason you can find me?”

“No,” Harry paused. “But some things are better left unknown.”

Tom flipped a page. “You have some sort of automatic homing beacon on me, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you cast the spell?”

“Nope. Comes with the territory.”

“You mean the territory of me being your slave.”

“That’d be it.”

Tom sighed and snapped _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_ shut, setting it aside. He’d barely gotten a page in, and it was obvious he wouldn’t be able to focus any time soon. “Why are you here?”

“Why did you leave?” Harry retorted.

“Harry, you were my _horcrux,_ ” Tom stressed.

“I was.”

“You..” Tom started, “You don’t _understand._ What that means to me.”

Harry met Tom’s eyes. “Then explain it to me.”

“The horcrux- it bonded with you when you were only a year old. It was on your forehead. You were a _baby_.” Tom tried, biting his lip and ruffling his hair. “It could’ve completely taken over your personality. Easily.”

“But it didn’t. I’m still me.”

“Even if it didn’t, it was still with you from early childhood. It had probably completely bonded to you by the time you went to Hogwarts. And the only way you could’ve _possibly_ gotten rid of it at that point was by completely _dying._ ”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed. He already knew this. Knew that he wasn’t supposed to come back that night. But he had.

“Harry, you _died._ I _killed you._ ”

“Tom, _you_ didn’t do that. That was a completely different Voldemort.”

“I almost turned into him.”

“I can assure you that you didn’t.”

“Harry,” Tom glanced over, finally, his voice on the edge of cracking. “Why did you die?”

Harry played oblivious. “What do you mean?”

“Why did the horcrux separate from your body?”

“The Battle of Hogwarts,” Harry stated with a blunt voice. “Voldemort had long since infiltrated the school. My friends and I.. had gone horcrux hunting. We’d actually found them all, too. Broke into Gringotts and everything! … I don’t recommend. But, Voldemort had found out that I had snuck into the castle, and he ordered all of his minions to attack the school. He wanted me to give myself up for their lives.”

Harry took a slightly shaky breath, barely noticeable, but Tom saw nonetheless. “And so I did. I gave myself up.”

“.. And I killed you.”

“.. Yeah.” Harry paused, lost in solemn thought. “I didn’t know about the horcrux in me. Dumbledore knew, but he’d never mentioned it. He knew I would have to die for the war to end—for Voldemort to die. He’d.. purposely raised me to be weak, submissive, easy to manipulate. I told you that.. that I hate being controlled. I hate it _so much._ I hate being used, I hate being treated like a tool, I _hate_ having no say in anything, because.. that’s all my first life consisted of. I was a tool, only meant to be used, right down to the day I died. But.. even knowing that, I still.. I still like the thought of controlling others. Knowing that, no matter how much they try, they can never use me again. Maybe I want payback? ..I don’t know why.”

Tom sat quietly for a few moments. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but Harry still waited for Tom to break it, to give an explanation as to _why_.

“… Perhaps I’m not the best person to tell you this, but.. I don’t think you’re wrong. It’s only natural for you to want to be in control of your life after your first life. It’s.. what makes us human.”

“.. I don’t think I’m human.”

“We could argue that I’m not either.”

Harry waved his hand, almost laughing at the irony. A bitter laugh. “Just two monsters, pretending to be human.”

Tom hummed his agreement. “I.. liked controlling people. It made me feel like I was better than all of them, after I grew up constantly at the bottom. It made me feel wonderful, knowing that all of the people who made fun of me would bow at my feet, despite me being so much inferior, in their eyes.”

“Then why would you choose to give all of that up, just for me?”

And then Tom gave him the _look_ again. The one where he’s staring at Harry with such _adoration_ and _amazement_ and _respect_ , and Harry still doesn’t understand why anybody would look at _him_ with such a look, and Tom seems almost _desperate_ for Harry to understand exactly what he sees when he looks at the boy. Like he can’t _fathom_ how Harry doesn’t know, how he can’t see what Tom sees in him.

“Because I found something that I like even more.”

“.. I don’t know what you see in me,” Harry muttered. He thought of a possible reason, and his mood seemed to deflate even more. “.. Is it because of my magic?”

_“_ _No!”_ Tom shook his head quickly, denying it immediately, and making his perfect hair mess up but still somehow look perfect. “It’s not—At first, it was. Your magic.. It’s wonderful. Every time you do something, even just making an apple float, it’s like.. It feels like _home._ Like I belong there. Like I’m actually worth something in the world, just by being near you.”

“I never thought _you’d_ develop an inferiority complex,” Harry joked, trying to cover up how he had no clue how to answer that, or even begin thinking what it might mean in the first place. How he wouldn’t believe a word of it, if not for Tom’s sincerity on the matter.

_(How his magic shouldn’t feel like anything but_ _**death** _ _and_ _**destruction** _ _, because that’s all he is.)_

“I don’t think it is,” Tom replied honestly. “You just.. helped me realize that there’s much bigger things in the universe than me.”

“… What’s the reason you’re staying now?”

Tom glanced over with a questioning look.

“You said.. it was my magic at first..” Harry specified with a pained expression. “But you denied it being the reason now.”

“It’s because.. you’re you.”

As if his simple answer explained everything.

Harry didn’t understand.

He wasn’t sure if he would ever understand.

“I am nothing without my magic.”

“You would still be Danny’s brother. You would still be a wonderful storyteller. You would still be smart, cunning, and have fast reflexes. You would still love treacle tart. You would still be the most important person in my entire life. You would still be somebody I would follow to the ends of the universe. You would still be somebody I would gladly give up everything for, just to spend even a _moment_ in your presence,” Tom stated confidently, not a trace of doubt found in his voice.

Harry was still at a loss for words. It seems this was happening a lot.

“Hey, Harry,” Tom glanced over, then back away, all traces of previous confidence gone, “Can we be friends?”

And Harry, for once, knew the answer.

“I’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:D
> 
> >:D >:D >:D
> 
> So how'd y'all like the new chapter? :D Was it just pure angst like I said? I actually have no clue I wrote half of it three months ago and the other half yesterday.
> 
> Lemme know what you think!


	6. Even In Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of things happen. Chocolate milk, storytelling, family bonding, and Tom getting really happy and then really not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOWS IT GOING IM BACK WITH A NEW CHAPTER ITS ONLY BEEN LIKE, 7 YEARS. Or four months. Idk. But like, I have this new chapter, and it's over 6000 words alright. So you better worship me for this. By giving me lots of comments. :D
> 
> This chapter is a fricken roller coaster. Dear god. I accidentally spent like 4000 words on lunch, which had no real plot relevancy as far as I can tell, and lemme tell you, I was real tempted to just leave it there, but no, there's actual plot in this chapter. I promise.
> 
> >:D

“We’re back!” Harry stepped inside, holding hands with Tom and leading him back, as if to quell an underlying fear that he would leave again if he let go.

Instantly, the smell of spaghetti wafted through the house, reminding both Harry and Tom exactly how hungry they were.

“Welcome back, you two. Tom, dear, are you staying for lunch?” Lily asked, already setting out another plate before he’d answered.

At that point, Tom had no choice but to nod and accept, though he had no plans to deny the offer in the first place. “Thank you. It smells wonderful.”

Harry led Tom over to an extra chair. He squeezed his hand just a bit tighter, then finally dropped it—the first time since they’d had their talk. Danny immediately pushed a drink over to Tom’s seat, then got Harry’s and his own, concealing a hidden smirk inside a bright smile.

Tom stared at the cup. “It.. has a straw.”

“It does,” Harry agreed, also staring at the innocent straw in a bit of awe.

The straw was plastic—one of those colored straws with shapes in the loops, which happened to be pink and hearts this time. The drink itself looked to be chocolate milk, obviously courtesy of Danny’s innocent question to him earlier. Harry didn’t even know they had straws.

Neither Harry nor Tom found anything wrong with the drink as a whole, but they had both known him when he’d been an insane Dark Lord who had tried, and succeeded in other cases, to murder Harry’s entire family. For Tom to be drinking something so.. _innocent_ and _pure_ , it was almost ironic. They could tell stories to people about how the chosen boy from the prophecy gave the Dark Lord chocolate milk with a straw shaped like hearts.

Tom took a sip, as if nothing was wrong or out of place. Harry was failing to hold back a laugh, and only when Tom caught Harry’s eyes did his blank face fail him and he started laughing too, almost spilling the milk he’d just drank.

The rest of the family soon appeared and Tom and Harry quickly quieted their laughter, though some snickers still snuck through. Danny sat down on the other side of Harry, his usual spot, giving Tom a knowing smile when he’d seen the cup just a bit more empty.

James walked into the room last, after everybody else had already sat down, and immediately just stopped in his tracks.

“It has a straw.”

“It does,” Tom agreed, keeping a straight face again.

Tom picked up the drink again and sipped it through the straw, making straw noises purposely, and never breaking eye contact with James. James only stared, watching the Dark Lord drink from a pink heart straw.

Danny and Harry were on the verge of laughing, but somehow managed not to. The rest of the family had no idea how to respond to any of this, so they just continued watching, waiting for something to happen.

And something did.

Tom suddenly splutters, leaning over with a hand on the table, almost spilling but having enough graceful tact to stop himself before he spits it out with his other hand to his mouth. He took a moment to swallow, before coughing for a few moments, looking much too tired for somebody only in their early 20’s, even if he really wasn’t.

“Wha-” James squinted, but was immediately cut off.

Tom whipped around, glaring daggers at the boy behind him. _“SMALL BRAT.”_

“Yes?” Harry answered, the picture of innocence.

Tom opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, then opened it again. In the end, he just sighed in exasperation. “Harry, darling, can I punch you?”

“No.”

Tom doesn’t even look surprised at his answer, as if he’d been expecting it all along. “I should’ve known you had ulterior motives. I should’ve known this would be nothing but a trap. Were all these memories—all these times we spent together—were they nothing but a sick ruse for your own enjoyment? I should be sick, absolutely disgusted, with you, but instead I’m only disappointed. Disappointed in myself, for not realizing this was nothing but a joke to you. Disappointed in you, for gaining my trust and then _staBBING ME IN THE BACK.”_

And Harry couldn’t help it—he laughed. “Oh Merlin, no matter what universe we’re in, you’re still a drama queen.”

“I have to live up to your expectations, after all,” Tom smirked, as if he didn’t just go on a rant about being stabbed in the back by a child. “Also, I would make a radiant queen.”

“I can’t deny that. You really would,” Harry agreed easily. “But could you pull off wearing a dress?”

“Absolutely.”

“Alright, alright, time to eat, you two,” Lily interrupted. “ _Before_ the food gets cold.”

James seemed to have recovered from Tom’s outburst, and was stroking his chin in thought. “They have a point. He _would_ look pretty good in a dress.”

“Dear,” Lily sighed, and then sighed again when the family laughed at her accidental pun, “please stop hitting on the Dark Lord.”

After that, lunch continued on peacefully. Or, as peaceful as you can get when you have the Marauders, the Master of Death, the Chosen Boy, and the Dark Lord all sitting at one table. Even if their titles really had nothing to do with the chaos.

“Harry, small brat, would you mind changing my drink back?” Tom asked with a pleasant smile, despite his harsher tone.

“Okay, for real though, do you.. not like.. strawberry milk?”

“Apparently not.”

“Fair enough.” Harry waved his hand, which Tom knew now to be a completely unnecessary motion, and the milk changed from a pink tinge back into a brown one. It also refilled.

(Tom supposed he could be forgiven this one time.)

“So,” Sirius starts, still slurping noodles, “When are we getting Moldyshort’s nice trinkets back?”

“I _implore_ you to call me Tom,” Tom almost pleaded.

Harry glanced over with an amused smile. “Isn’t this the _opposite_ of what you used to want?”

“Yes, yes, gloat all you want, but that doesn’t change the fact that if you called me Voldemort, or even.. Moldyshorts.. in public, there would be a riot,” Tom reasoned logically, which was true, but Harry saw it for what it really was.

Harry leaned closer, leaning against the table with one arm. “You don’t have to make excuses; nobody here will judge you.”

Tom glared at Harry, but there was no real heat behind it. Instead, they only stared at each other, waiting for one of them to back out. It didn’t take long for Tom to glance away, sighing, and looking much more hesitant and bashful than he had a moment ago. (Harry quickly decided he liked that look on him.)

“I.. I’d rather you call me Tom than anything Voldemort-related, because.. I don’t want you to associate me with him anymore,” Tom mumbled, close to blushing a furious red. “I.. don’t want Harry’s family to be scared of me, or to hate me, or to think I have anything nefarious planned, because.. here, with Harry, I can just be Tom. I’d hate for you guys to hate me because then Harry might be put in a position to choose between us, and I already know he’d choose his family-” Tom cut himself off suddenly, hanging his head low and avoiding eye contact.

Harry would bet that Tom was a bright red, not used to being so open with his feelings.

“And I guess.. being here, with Harry’s family.. it feels like.. a new start. Not that I’m making excuses for my past, no, I fully own up to it, and fully expect and accept any retribution you may have against me.” Tom waved his hands a bit, denying their doubt before it had formed.

(If only Tom knew that they’d never had any doubt about him, ever since Harry had brought him home. They’d accepted Harry’s trust of him, and in turn, trusted Tom themselves.)

(For all it mattered to them, Tom was already part of the family.)

Tom, ignorantly unaware of their thoughts, only continued with his spiel, in too deep to stop now. “I suppose it feels like I’m able to be myself here, without any of the masks or lies that I always have. Harry already knows all my tricks and secrets, so I feel like I’m able to let my guard down and not have to worry about a sneak attack or keeping up a mask or about any expectations from the Death Eaters. Here, I don’t have to worry about being a Dark Lord… I can just be Tom.”

The family sat in silence for a minute, nobody really sure what to say.

Surprisingly, Tom was the next one to speak, despite having finished his speech. “Well, that was the most emotional thing I have _ever_ said.”

Harry grinned, catching onto Tom’s sudden playfulness, also known as a ploy to change the topic as quick as possible. “You know, have I ever told you about the time I met a different Voldemort? This must’ve been like, the fifth one I’d met, and honestly, I was just tired of them at that point.”

Tom looked vaguely insulted, while the rest of the family was definitely both intrigued and amused.

“It was just your regular ‘Voldemort wanting to rule the world’ gig, and I was just some random muggle he kept running into on the streets. As in, I was pointedly behaving like a muggle, and was born as one, while traipsing around in the wizarding world,” Harry explained, falling into another one of his stories that the whole family enjoyed. “I would make sure to run into him while he was busy trying to do a raid or something, and I’d just laugh at his pointy stick and call him out on his nice special effects, since he had no clue that none of his spells affected me. He never gave up trying to kill me, no matter how many times it didn’t work and how many times I made fun of him.”

Tom made his displeasure known by sipping his chocolate milk loudly. Harry could see that Tom was only pretending; he had a fascinated look in his eyes, much too absorbed in the story to be genuinely upset. And Harry knew Tom didn’t mind a bit of teasing, even if Voldemort had protested and announced his hatred often.

“Of course, along with trying to kill me, he also monologued like a stereotypical super-villain, which meant the wonderful third person _“Lord Voldemort does not have time for a simple muggle!”_ thing. Anyways, I got him to admit his human name was Tom Riddle after a _lot_ of pestering, and I swear he almost tried to punch me in the face a couple times. Never actually did—probably thought that fighting like a muggle was beneath him, honestly.”

Harry paused to sip Tom’s drink, reveling in the glare Tom sent him, and happily noticing that Tom did nothing to try and stop him.

“So, of course, as soon as I ‘learned’ his real name,” Harry finger-quoted ‘learned,’ seeing as he already knew it from his previous lives. “I did nothing but call him Tim.”

This time, Tom couldn’t help but break the silence with his own incredulous stare. _“Tim?!”_

“Yeah, I’d always just call him Tim. Like, _“Hey, Tim! How’s your fancy light show been working out for you?”_ and he would get so mad, I literally had a hard time to not burst out laughing every time I saw him. And he’d always respond back with _“_ _It’s not_ _ **Tim!**_ _It’s Tom! And it’s not Tom, it’s Voldemort!!”_ and he’d proceed to hiss like a snake for half a minute—not even Parseltongue, just blatant hissing.”

Danny grinned, already having heard this story before from when they were younger, and the rest of the family were trying to hide their obvious smiles, not wanting to insult Tom by laughing. Sirius and James were definitely failing, not even bothering to cover up their smile with a hand, and only looking more interested in Harry’s tale.

The entire family, including Harry, startled out of their focus on the story when Tom voiced a sudden laugh, even surprising himself it seemed. He adopted a confused face for a quick second, as if he wasn’t even sure what he just did. And then he started laughing again, and once he’d started, he suddenly couldn’t stop, and Harry found himself laughing along with Tom, genuinely enjoying himself.

(In the back of his mind, Harry realized he really liked Tom’s laugh, and hoped to be able to make him laugh like this more.)

Eventually, they were able to calm down enough for Harry to continue, though Tom continued to cover his mouth to stop any laughter that dared to escape.

“I always had a habit of showing up at the worst times for him usually, other than when we met up on a walk. Apparently even evil Dark Lords needed exercise, so his first logical conclusion was to walk around the block in a muggle neighborhood. Or maybe he was plotting out attack zones. I dunno,” Harry continued on, shrugging. “There was a couple times.. Well, actually, I’ll tell you about the first time.”

Harry could see their confused expressions, silently asking what he was referring to, and Tom dawning a suspicious look, as if he knew what Harry was about to say. Danny was smiling, already knowing what comes next and innocently glancing at Tom, which Tom obviously knew about from his small spike of (pretend) irritation every time it happened.

“The first time, I caught Voldy in the middle of one of his raids. He was off to the side, watching the Death Eaters reign destruction over the muggle neighborhood. I came up behind him and yelled _“TIM RODDLE!”_ with all of my anger. He jumped like five feet in the air, and it was so funny looking back on it later, but at that moment, I was pretty angry. He didn’t even berate me on calling him that, since he seemed to sense my fury. I didn’t hurt him, but I must’ve lectured him for ten minutes straight in an exceedingly angry voice right next to a bunch of burning houses. It must’ve been a strange sight, cause this weird reptile guy, who all the Death Eaters knew as their _leader_ , was actually cowering back in fear of me, some random muggle. They probably assumed one of those houses was mine, which, luckily for him, wasn’t.”

Harry paused for a moment to take another sip of Tom’s drink, who didn’t even bother looking upset at it. In fact, Tom took a sip himself right after Harry set it down, seemingly not bothered at all by the fact they were sharing a straw.

“The second time I called him Tim Roddle, he was about to kill an innocent kid who was bawling their eyes out. They’d been living off on the streets, it seemed, and tried to rob him for some money, probably to survive.”

Harry noticed Tom going slightly pale, so he continued on quickly.

“Anyways, Voldy heard me yell out that name from across the street, and he turned towards me so quickly I swear I heard his neck crack. The kid bolted the first chance they got, and I, again, spent another few minutes lecturing Voldy and making my displeasure known. _“_ _Tim, what in the actual HELL were you thinking?! Murdering a random kid?! I thought you were better than this, Tim. Boy, Ms. Roddle is going to be so pissed at you! You’ll be grounded for half a century if I have any say in this!”_ I wasn’t actually.. that mad at him, but I had to keep up appearances.”

“The third time, he wasn’t actually doing anything. I just saw him randomly on the streets—didn’t even try to track him down—and he was just taking one of his wonderful walks around the neighborhood. So, obviously, the first thing I did was yell out _“TIM RODDLE”_ in my angriest voice. Merlin, it was so funny; he didn’t even contradict my name-calling, only startled and immediately yelled back _“_ _I’m not even_ _ **doing**_ _anything this time!”_ but for some reason, he didn’t try to stop my ten minute rant, like he’d rather not face the consequences of pissing me off more. At the end, I remember laughing at his face because he was so annoyed. Half way through the lecture, I had started talking about a random topic—I believe it was different cotton candy flavors—and he didn’t even try to stop me, and instead just stood there with an impatient look, waiting for me to finish.”

Harry paused, falling back into the old memories of what his other lives had been like.

“I had fun admitting I was only doing all of it to annoy him, and I told him I actually knew what magic was, and who he was. Of course, he questioned me about it, and it turned into our first real conversation, which was mostly me laughing at his annoyed expression and attempts to get me to tell him everything.”

The story suddenly died off there. Harry was lost in his thoughts, memories of old times flashing through his eyes, and a frown growing steadily on his face.

Tom, Danny, Remus, and Lily seemed to realize the sudden shift in the atmosphere, but Sirius and James stayed oblivious, still too enticed in the story to realize it was over.

“So? What happened next?” Sirius pressed after a full minute of silence had passed.

Harry startled out of his thoughts, looking rightfully confused for a second. “Hm? Oh- uh, that.. was the last time we met up. He was killed a few days after that, in the final battle against good and evil. I went to look around a bit a few days later, or perhaps it had been closer to weeks. Months, maybe.” He paused, looking off into the distance and pointedly avoiding everybody’s stares. “All of the students were recovering nicely, and all of the dead had been honored. Even the Death Eaters had been buried and given a funeral, not that many people attended them.”

“Well, everybody except for Voldemort, that is.” Harry smiled, all too fake and they knew it. “They burned his body to ashes and then burned the ashes, and chucked all the dust in the sewers. Apparently, they were worried about him trying to come back again, but it was obvious they already knew he wasn’t. They just- They didn’t think he even _deserved_ a grave, much less a funeral. And I know it’s stupid, but..” Harry ruffled his hair, his frustration making it wilder than it already was. “Merlin, _that_ was exactly why he became Voldemort in the first place! They acted as if he didn’t _exist_. Riddle feared being forgotten by everybody, so that’s exactly what they made happen. But, even so, even in their anger, why couldn’t they have respected the fact he _died.”_

“I.. I was so upset over it for such a long time, and at first, I didn’t even realize why. And then- it just _hit me._ They refused to treat him like a _human_. They just- his entire life, all he wanted was to be noticed, for his life not to be meaningless, and they continually took that chance away from him, right until the day he died. First, it was because he was an orphan, then because he was a muggle-born, then because he was a dark wizard, and then because they all gained some sick satisfaction from pretending he didn’t exist. I wanted to shake them all and force them to just _acknowledge his existence._ He wasn’t a nice person, I know, but.. he didn’t deserve _that,”_ Harry ranted, almost too quiet and still in his rage.

“In the end, I made him his own grave. It wasn’t anything special, mind you, but at least it _existed._ Didn’t take long before a couple wizards found it, and of course they tried to destroy it. It wasn’t in the way, it wasn’t something big or grand, it wasn’t even that _noticeable_ , but that wasn’t good enough for them, I guess, they still tried their hardest to get through my wards just to have fun kicking it. Within like, four days, every wizard in Britain had tried their hardest to break it, and after that, they just.. _left._ Pretended it never existed, just like anything else about him.” Harry was almost shaking from his anger, clenching his fists until they were white. “I’d visit and talk for a while sometimes, just because nobody else would ever go near it. Because I was the only one. No family, no friends, no funeral, no _grave_ until I made him one. Not even a _rock_ tossed to the ground in his memory.”

Harry seemed to finally realize he’d been ranting for the past ten minutes, which had never been his intention. He’d only wanted to share a fun story about Tim from his past, and he’d gotten lost in the memories. He met his family’s gaze one at a time, each of them wide-eyed in shock at what he’d just said. Danny had started holding his hand sometime during his spiel and softly gestured to behind Harry, giving him a small, but genuine, smile.

Harry turned around to meet Tom’s eyes and paused.

Tom was crying again, which seemed to be a common theme lately, wiping his tears against his sleeve, sniffing softly. He met Harry’s gaze, still leaking tears that just wouldn’t stop, and brought Harry in for a hug despite his shaking arms. Harry froze, never thinking Tom would initiate any physical contact between them, or anyone else, but gently hugged back after a moment.

Only because he was this close to Tom could he hear his soft whispers, so quiet even Harry almost missed them. _“Thank you. Thank you so much.”_

And Harry understood. He knew what it was like to be forgotten and unwanted. He knew that Tom was thanking him for respecting—treating him like a _person—_ even in death. For giving him the chance that nobody else had.

. . . . .

“So, who’s all coming to Gringotts with me?” Sirius stood up from where he was lounging on the couch, stretching. “Tom’s going, obviously, but anyone else wanna come? Harry? Danny?”

The twins, lying on the floor and leaning on each other, looked up from their coloring book. Danny and Harry shared a look before both nodded at the same time.

“Yeah, we’ll both go,” Harry answered.

Tom glanced up from his book, _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_ , and bookmarked his page before setting it down on the coffee table. “With all of these interruptions, I’ll never get past chapter two.”

“That’s okay. You don’t appear until, like, chapter eight. You wrote on the wall in _chicken blood.”_

Tom looks disgusted at himself, but doesn’t bother asking why.

“I have no clue what either of you are talking about, and I really don’t think I want to know.” James stared at the duo with a deadpan look, the a similar one to the look Harry would give him when he was being an idiot. (At least he knew that he wasn’t just imagining those looks anymore when Harry was a baby-)

“Just about my second year in Hogwarts,” Harry smiled.

James squinted. “Like I said, I don’t think I want to know.”

“Anyways, come on guys!! I haven’t gotten to spend any time with my kids recently, and this is a perfect opportunity!” Sirius beckoned, now excitedly latched onto the idea of time with the kids.

“They’re my kids, Pads!”

“Coming, Uncle Paddy,” Danny answered.

The twins stood up and pulled Sirius out the door, and Tom followed suit after grabbing his book. (Harry faintly wondered why he’d put it down in the first place.) Once outside, they apparated to Diagon Alley, pretending as if one of the eight year-olds didn’t just apparate himself and his brother, who didn’t stop holding hands, even after landing.

Diagon Alley hadn’t changed since the last time Harry had been here. The streets were still bustling with bright colors and people in robes, all giving off the faint sense of magic that permanently laces the air. Even comparing it to his first life, not much had changed between that and this, and it made nostalgia settle in his head for a moment, until he was brought back to the present by Danny’s soft grip on his hand.

“Alrighty,” Sirius grinned. “How about we get the Gringotts trip out of the way, and then I’ll take you all to get ice cream?”

“Yeah!!” Harry and Danny exclaimed together.

Tom looked confused at Sirius’ offer. He hesitated for a moment before asking, “.. Did you mean.. me.. too?”

Sirius turned around to face Tom, already having started to walk off in his excitement. He stared at him for a second too long, as if deciding if he was being serious or not, only succeeding in making Tom nervous. In the end, he cocks his head to he side. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I.. I mean.. there’s no _real_ reason for me to be included in your family outing. I’m.. I’m not a part of your family.” Tom seemed like he only wanted out of the conversation, subconsciously backing up from Sirius’ gaze.

“What?” Sirius looked just as confused as Tom felt, though not half as nervous. “Of course you’re family.”

And that just makes Tom freeze in his tracks. _Sirius Black considers him family? But he tried to torture him..? Not to mention kill his best friend’s family, and kidnapped his kid for two years, and killed a whole bunch of others, like Sirius’ entire family, and didn’t he have a brother-_

By the time Tom snapped out of his thoughts, Sirius, Danny, and Harry were almost out of sight, continuing on their path to Gringotts. They didn’t even pause to realize what they’d just said, or what it meant, or how Sirius couldn’t have possibly meant it.

He had to speed up to a light jog for a minute, but quickly caught up to the others just as they reached the entrance.

Once inside, Harry bounded right up to one of the goblins at a desk. They were filling out paperwork and clearly had a ‘leave me alone’ attitude, but it didn’t seem to dissuade Harry at all.

“Griphook, my friend, it has been many years,” Harry spoke softly, but still loud enough for the goblin to hear.

The goblin—Griphook—calmly looked up from his paperwork. “Mr. Peverell, it has been quite some time, indeed. I would love to catch up with you for a while, but that is not what you are here for, is it?” He sent a toothy grin Harry’s way.

At this point, a couple wizards had started to notice the conversation, standing in poorly-hidden shock. Sirius was one of these people, but his shock quickly morphed into a grin. He hadn’t expected this on his trip to Gringotts, no, but that didn’t make it any less cool. Harry was friends with a _goblin,_ the most unfriendly creatures he’s ever met.

“I’ve told you before to call me Harry,” Harry retorted, but from his fond grin, they could tell he was only joking. “Sadly, no, I’m here on business this time. I’ll stop in for a chat soon, though. It’s been much too long since we’ve last had a chance to meet.”

“Well? What do you need?”

“My uncle would like to access Bellatrix Lestrange’s vault to grab Hufflepuff’s cup,” Harry answered easily, attracting a few more stares from passerby who happened to overhear. “I’d also like to check my own vaults and possessions, if it would not be too much trouble.”

“Of course not, Harry. If there’s anybody I would make time for, it would be you.”

“You flatter me, Griphook. Sadly, I have a beloved.”

Tom’s head spun in confusion at that statement, making him almost dizzy. _Harry has a lover?_ He doesn’t know what he feels about that fact, but he definitely feels something towards that, if the sudden feeling in his stomach is anything to go by. Sirius seemed to be having similar thoughts, but Danny only smiled, as if he was in on the big secret.

“You certainly have an unhealthy obsession with space, Mr. Peverell, but I’d hardly count is as a beloved.”

“You wound me, Griphook.”

(Tom refuses to acknowledge the relief coursing through his body, because that would be admitting there was a reason it developed in the first place.)

“Come along.” Griphook beckoned Harry and his family to follow him, getting up from his seat. Once standing, Tom noticed that Harry, and incidentally Danny, was only slightly taller than the goblin, even only being a small child. (Tom hasn’t thought of Harry as a child in a very long time.)

They were led down a hallway into a door, which revealed a simple room with a desk, a couple chairs, and even some comfy-looking couches. It was easily big enough for the five of them, and judging from Harry’s earlier conversation, was probably suited for not only comfort, but privacy as well.

Harry took a seat on one of the chairs, while Sirius, Danny, and Tom decided to sit off to the side on the couches. They really had no clue what was going on at the moment, but all of them trusted Harry, so they weren’t too worried.

Griphook took a seat at the desk, pulling out a small stack of papers, along with a short blade, handing it to Harry. “If you would.”

Harry accepts the knife and pricks his finger, letting three drops of blood fall onto a blank piece of parchment in front of him. As the third drop hit, words started forming until the entire sheet was covered.

Tom had never known anybody’s parchment to be so long, but he doesn’t think it’s that big of a surprise once he remembers that Harry holds the title of ‘Master of Death’. He still doesn’t really know what that title actually means, other than Harry is immortal, really powerful, and able to travel dimensions, but sometimes he sees Harry zone out for minutes at a time with a haunted look in his eyes and decides it’s better if he doesn’t know.

While Tom was lost in his thoughts, Harry scanned over the sheet, seeing what was new and what wasn’t. So far, everything looked pretty similar to his vaults in his first life, other than some minor changes, such as amount of money or certain books he’s already read. Many of his titles aren’t on the sheet, but seeing as many of them don’t exist in this universe, it doesn’t surprise Harry.

He skims through the next few lines by habit, since he’s already familiar with everything on the list, and then is forced to back up and reread something Harry’s sure he read wrong.

Harry frowned, unsure how to process the new addition. He quickly makes a soundproof bubble around himself and Griphook with a wave of his hand, and Harry is so thankful that his family and Tom don’t look betrayed or angry at him for keeping this from them, if only for the moment, when they realize they can no longer hear anything Harry or Griphook is saying. That they trust him so much.

“It seems I have a problem,” Harry stated, as if it wasn’t obvious already.

Griphook raised an eyebrow, and Harry showed him the parchment.

“I’ve lived in countless lives with many different Voldemorts, but this is the first time this has happened,” Harry tried to explain his concern.

The goblin studied the parchment for a moment, as if staring at it will reveal the hidden solution. Or, more likely, he’s taking a moment to organize his thoughts. “It seems that Lady Magic has formally recognized you as the master of Tom Marvolo Riddle.”

“Any ideas to why?” Harry questioned. “I mean, I can guess lots of reasons as to _why_ , but which one do you think is most likely?”

“Did you agree to take him on as your slave?”

“Nope. Apprentice, actually.”

“Does Mr. Riddle know about his status?”

“Yeah, I told him how it happened, but I also told him that I don’t intend to take him up on that offer.”

Griphook seemed thoughtful for a moment, and he hesitated—only for a mere half second, but it was still there. “Perhaps Mr. Riddle accepted the role of slave himself, which seems unlikely-”

Groaning, Harry hit his head against the desk. “Yeah, that’d be it. He keeps bringing up the topic that he’s my slave, and how he wouldn’t mind following my orders, but I.. I’m scared to take him up on that offer. He wants me to trust him, but there’s so many other ways to earn that trust than forceful obedience.”

Griphook was silent for a moment, which turned into a couple minutes, before finally speaking. Harry waited patiently, willing to hear his friend out. Goblins were smart, and it wouldn’t be wise to ignore their advice.

“You should take Mr. Riddle up on his offer.”

Obviously, that hadn’t been what Harry was expecting. “Why?”

“Harry, we have been friends for many years. The fact that you are so reluctant to control anybody, even Tom Riddle, is precisely why you should. If he has accepted his role as your slave, then it is only fair that you accept as his master.”

Sure, that sounded like a perfectly logical conclusion, but Harry didn’t believe that was the entire reason for half a second. He showed his disbelief with a deadpan look, until the goblin relented.

“Call it a hunch. You two will end up helping each other more than you think.”

“Aren’t _I_ the all-knowing god?” Harry mused.

“You’re not all-knowing, or you certainly wouldn’t be asking _me_ for advice,” Griphook smirked back.

Harry only huffed a breath and dropped the bubble surrounding them, allowing the others to hear their conversation. He turned around, deciding to just get it done and over with. “Tom?”

“Yes?”

Harry could see he was trying to look disinterested, but his ruby eyes were laced with a fierce curiosity, betraying his inner emotions.

“I accept my role as your master.”

It took Tom a moment to comprehend what he’d just said, blinking several times until the thought sunk in. He tried hiding his excited smile behind his hand, but it failed pretty quickly.

Danny looked over in a curious gaze, then glanced over to Harry before smiling himself.

Sirius was extremely confused, eyebrows furrowed in thought, but obviously getting nowhere. “What- But I thought.. Didn’t you.. Didn’t you already agree to take him on as an apprentice?”

“Mr. Peverell and Mr. Riddle have both formally accepted their roles as master and slave, and it has been acknowledged by Lady Magic.”

Sirius snapped his head around to the short goblin, “What.”

Griphook seemed amused and cleared his throat to reread the passage, but Sirius cut him off. “No, I heard you just fine. I think.”

“Uncle Siri, are you okay?” Harry asked, a bit concerned on how Sirius would take the news. Perhaps he shouldn’t have just blurted it out like that-

“Yeah- yeah. I’ll be fine, kiddo. Just.. give me a minute to wrap my head around it.”

Harry didn’t really know what to respond to that, but thankfully Griphook came to the rescue. “Perhaps now would be a good time to grab Hufflepuff’s cup?”

“Yeah, okay. Let’s go do that. That sounds fun.” Sirius took a deep breath to try to calm himself, and it seemed to work a bit.

Harry tilted his head “Do you want me to come with?”

“That’d be great, little Prongs.”

Harry turned back to his brother and Tom. “Will you two be okay alone for a bit?”

“Of course,” Danny agreed.

Tom only nodded, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Harry had just _agreed-_

Griphook led Harry and Sirius out of the room. A moment later, the door shut with a soft ‘click’, leaving Tom and Danny alone together for the first time.

Tom didn’t start up any conversations, still not sure how to act around any of Harry’s family without him here. And Danny was the _chosen one_ , even if Tom had no intentions of doing anything that would require him to step up into that role.

And Merlin, he couldn’t believe that Harry actually _accepted_ him. Tom would have to thank Griphook whenever he came back, because he’s not really sure what Griphook had said to Harry for him to agree to it, but it was definitely nothing short of a miracle.

(Tom realizes that his thought process is really backward. He’s happy over the fact he’s now a _slave._ )

(But he’s Harry’s slave. He belongs to Harry.)

Danny walked over to in front of Tom, effectively snapping him out of his thoughts for the time being. The eight year-old stops in front of him, and despite Tom being in his early 20’s, and mentally much older, Tom can’t help but feel a bit guarded.

Danny stares at him for a minute with unreadable emotions in his eyes, and Tom doesn’t try to look away.

“You stole my brother away from me for two years,” Danny speaks, and there’s venom laced in his voice.

Tom nods slowly. There’s no use denying it. “I did.”

Danny pushes forward. “At lunch, you said you’d accept any retribution we may have against you.”

“I did.” Tom had said that, and he meant it too. He would accept any punishment Harry’s family may have for him.

“Tom, _kneel.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehehehehehe

**Author's Note:**

> So tell me what you thought!! I'm hoping to actually write out the PPP scene next, but I'm not sure how to start it. Hopefully the tags and summary were okay, because I haven't posted anything in a while. Also, I haven't read the books in years so if anything doesn't line up, just think of this as an alternate dimension where a couple things have changed.


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